Meet two women, inspired by Mumbai’s iconic Dabbawala, they started food delivery services in London, now has a million dollar biz

Long before food delivery apps became popular, Mumbai’s dabbawalas had already perfected the art of delivering fresh, home-cooked meals to office workers in an incredibly efficient way. Inspired by this system, Anshu Ahuja and Renee Williams, founders of a London-based company ‘Dabba Drop’, launched a business that delivers freshly made home food in reusable tiffin boxes. Their model emphasizes sustainability, avoiding single-use plastic and packaging, similar to the dabbawala system in Mumbai.

Today, their three-tiered dabbas are dropped at offices and homes, to South Asians craving a taste of home and to an even larger number of British folks who love Indian food. At the moment, about 700 dabbas are dropped to various locations across zones 1-3 in London every week.

About the founders:

Ahuja moved from Mumbai to the UK in 1999 to study film and media, and worked as a runner and series producer in the industry for almost 15 years. Williams was an event manager and worked across production, food, design and operations. The two met as neighbours and found common ground as mothers of two trying to balance work and family.

The idea emerged from their shared frustration with unhealthy, greasy takeaway food, prompting them to modernize the dabba system.

“We would get together every Friday evening, open a bottle of wine as the kids played, order some takeaway and talk about motherhood and wonder what we wanted to do next,” Ahuja was quoted as saying by cntraveller.in. “We were always disappointed by the quality of the takeaway food we got. It was greasy, unhealthy, in plastic containers and without many vegetarian options. That’s when the thought of a dabba system came to me, having, of course, seen the amazing dabbawalas in Mumbai myself. We started talking about how we could modernise that system, add some technology to it and make it a business.”

Williams, who loves the movie The Lunchbox—where two strangers begin exchanging letters via an accidentally delivered dabba—was completely on board. “I was one of the recipients during the first trial that Anshu did of the food and I loved the dabbas and the theatre of it all,” she told cntraveller.in.

Their rotating eight-menu system covers diverse Asian meals, including dishes from India, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Pakistan. All meals are vegetarian, and customers can customize their orders with sides and specify dietary restrictions.

Popular items on Dabba Drop menu:

• Delhi meal: Cumin dal, peas makhani, aloo tikkis, red rice.
• Hyderabad meal: Aloo-mirch salan, khatti dal, cumin rice, sweetcorn sundal.
• Goa meal: Aubergine recheado, amti dal, red rice, Goan-style tofu curry.
• Punjabi meal (bestseller): Aloo-gobi, saag-tofu, pindi chole, jeera rice.
• Non-Indian options: Sri Lankan kottu roti and aubergine pol curry, Japanese miso-glazed eggplant and carrot-potato kare, Pakistani cauliflower qorma and bukhara dal.

Their venture, which grew 300% during the COVID-19 lockdowns, is now valued at over £2 million. The meals are all completely vegetarian and a single dabba that serves two costs about £30 (about Rs3,230)