Delivering Food Across Mumbai - Dabbawalas

Since 1890, Dressed in a white outfit and traditional Gandhi Cap, Mumbai Army of 5,000 Dabbawalas fulfilling the hunger of almost 200,000 Mumbaikar with home-cooked food that is lug between home and office daily. For more than a century our team has been part of this grime-ridden metropolis-of-dreams. About 125 years back, a Parsi banker wanted to have home-cooked food in the office and gave this responsibility to the first-ever Dabbawala. Many people liked the idea and the demand for Dabba delivery soared. It was all informal and individual effort in the beginning, but visionary Mahadeo Havaji Bachche saw the opportunity and started the lunch delivery service in its present team-delivery format with 100 Dabbawalas. As the city grew, the demand for Dabba delivery grew too. The coding system created by our forefathers is still prominent in the 21st century. Initially, it was simple color-coding but now since Mumbai is widely spread metro with 3 local train routes, our coding has also evolved into alphanumeric characters. Ritesh Andre, the Spokesperson of Dabbawalas is operating the only offical tour and they belong to the only organization who is authorized to operate this tour.