It's worth looking closely: this business on wheels is feeding India for 125 years now

Every morning six days a week, Kieran Gavand travels by bicycle to one of the southern areas of the Indian city of Mumbai. He works as a food distributor in the Dabbalah trade network. For 125 years this successful business on wheels has been feeding the whole country.

How it all began

A good business idea came to mind in 1880, the Bombay resident Mahadeo Havadzhi Bache. He decided to organize a delivery service for lunches on wheels for British employees who were never accustomed to the local cuisine with an abundance of spices. And if in the mornings and evenings the Europeans took food in their dwellings, at lunch they often remained on a starvation ration. Since then, this small courier delivery service has evolved into a thriving organization of several thousand employees.

The new peak of popularity

In the past few years, food delivery in India is experiencing another peak in popularity. Now the food can be ordered through the Internet, and people no longer perceive this service as a luxury available only to wealthy individuals. There is a growing number of sites that are engaged in the delivery of freshly cooked food. However, newcomers can learn a lot from the network "Dabbalah", which has a huge experience with customers.

They are engaged in the delivery of food prepared at home

Paradoxically, "Dabbalah" still takes unskilled employees to the staff, who transport the customers' dishes to the office. This trading network, unlike many other similar, does not deal with the delivery of food from restaurants. Heads of the structure understand that their subordinates need development and training, so regularly organize courses with the participation of people who have achieved great success in this area. The most famous invited guest is the English billionaire Richard Branson.

One of the most efficient logistics systems in the world

According to many experts, the Dabbalah network can bear the proud name of one of the most efficient logistics structures in the world. There is nothing more high-tech than its thoughtful two-level management system. When 5,000 deliverers travel along the streets of a multimillion-dollar city, a lot of complications could arise. However, food is always delivered exactly by the specified date.

Service availability

Specialists of the personnel department should be confident in each of the employees, that's why they prefer to get acquainted with them personally. In connection with the increased competition in recent years, the network is interested in new customers. Here is what the network coordinator in Mumbai Sabod Sanghel says: "People think that this is a luxury if they order food for lunch in the office. But we make our service accessible to everyone, from the ordinary security guard to the director of the enterprise ". That is why "Dabbalah" still flourishes and even surpasses its "digital" competitors. They are sure of the correctness of their path, confirmed by 125 years of continuous work. Some of them can arrogantly say that in this business they can not have competitors. In fact, this is difficult to argue with.

High level of performance

The organization really asks for its services an acceptable and affordable price for customers. In 2010, the Harvard Business School conducted a study according to which "Dabbawale" was assessed on the "Six Sigma" methodology. You will be surprised, but for one million operations, network employees produce less than 3.5 errors. And this is in view of the fact that about 200,000 customers receive their orders every day! In a high level of performance, timeliness plays a key role. Packaged boxes should be delivered by 1pm, and it can take up to three hours of clean time.

When passers-by on the streets see a bicycle delivery truck, they often give way. The delivery schedule provides a temporary buffer. If each employee begins to focus on delivering lunch by 12:00, he will have time to correct mistakes in case he accidentally gets lost. Also, for every 20 deliverers, the network has one person on duty, who at any time is ready to replace a sick comrade.