Lunchbox Legends: The Dabbawalas of Mumbai at Indian Summer Festival Van...

Lunchbox Legends: The Dabbawalas of Mumbai at Indian Summer Festival Vancouver



“Error is Horror’” – Dabbawalas’ motto



Mumbai prides itself on being a resilient, make-it-happen, 24 hour city, and no one embodies that spirit more than the Dabbawalas.



Every day, 5000 Dabbawalas (or lunch couriers) deliver 350,000 lunches to their clients in stacked metal lunchboxes.



It is the lunchbox that gives these culinary couriers their name: dabba = luncbox and walla = worker. Each lunchbox is picked up at the client’s home (where it has been filled with home cooked food by a family member) and delivered to the office (still warm, in time for lunch).



On this trip across the megacity, each lunchbox will pass through the hands of at least twelve Dabbawalas, travelling by bicycle, local train, and foot.



This in itself is an incredible enough operation, but what makes it truly remarkable, is the operation’s error margin – an unbelievably low 1 in 6 million.



A 125 year old operation, the Dabbawalas have only recently shot to fame, with a Forbes Magazine article in 2002, which acknowledged them as having exceeded the criteria for Six Sigma certification.



Then came a Harvard Business Study, and soon Richard Branson joined them for a full day, riding along on Mumbai’s overpacked local trains, to learn the tricks of their trade.



Two representatives of the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association travel for the first time to Vancouver. Spokesperson Subodh Sangle, and Supervisor Kiran Gavande, share their stories, organizational methods, and tips for entrepreneurial success.



Meet the men behind the world’s most efficient organization.



This event was sponsored by Nature's Path Organic Foods, Canada India Networking Society and Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and was supported by community partners Tropicana Suite Hotel,



The Indus Entrepreneurs, New Document. Thanks to SFU Woodward's for their partnership and for recording the session.



Indian Summer Festival. Where Worlds Meet. A festival of arts & ideas in Vancouver every July.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z88bIk-9HQc