Remember the good old’ school days when lunch break would have the dabbawala bring a small three-tiered stainless steel (SS) tiffin carrier containing rice, gravy and subzi? A jumbo six-tier spoon-lock tiffin carrier could be found in almost every household, reserved usually for outstation travels.
Not much has changed – students still eat out of a dabba, and train travellers and budget airline fliers carry eatables in tiffin carriers. From plastic and polypropylene to SS, ceramic, glass or copper-bottomed tiffin carriers or dabbas are still very much around.
Age or generation notwithstanding, they have always been an intrinsic appliance in Indian homes. From schools to colleges to offices, on an every-day basis, ghar ka khana is the most appeti-sing and feasible to an average Indian.
Bloom Inner Container |
Statistics
According to Priyanka Kheruka, Head of Brand, Borosil Glass Works Ltd, “The highest category, however, using tiffin carriers are office goers followed by school and college students opting for more compact tiffin boxes. The issue with the traditional steel tiffin box has always been the lack of design and style.
This is where we at Borosil decided to give the same functionality and benefit of a traditional tiffin with a modern and more stylish design sensibility. The tiffin carriers are designed for Indian meals using eco-friendly materials and are yet ‘cool’ for the young students and millennial to carry with ease.”
BOROSIL GLASS LUNCH BOX |
The globally celebrated Mumbai dabbawalas, who transport hot food straight from home to office, deliver tiffins to over 200,000 people on a daily basis. A survey reveals that even when Indians travel out of town, 45% of them like to carry home cooked meals versus eating on a flight or train.
The Indian workforce is over 400 million strong, which constitutes 39.1% of the total population of the country. Even if you take half of this percentage, that is a large number of people carrying food from home in tiffin carriers, observes Kheruka.
Futron Milton |
Shifting trends
Despite food delivery apps and invasion of a gamut of cafes and eateries, which had temporarily captured the fancy of the younger generation, the health-conscious wave has taken over and many folks have reverted to carrying nutritious and freshly cooked meals.
Junk food is being dumped in favour of a balanced diet which, in turn, sees a surge in demand for tiffin carriers or the exemplary dabbas. Apart from safe materials such as stainless steel and glass being on the rise, leak-proof features, particularly amongst office goers, contemporary tiffin carriers have been revamped to suit the milieu.
SS carrier |
Vashist Vasanthkumar, Founder and CEO, Vaya Life PVT LTD, avers, “Lunchboxes over the years have not evolved much like other products. We built Vaya Tyffyn range of lunchboxes which is sleek and high on functionality. Our vision is to combine the best of design, engineering and technology to transform mundane products of everyday use with refinement and utility.”
Most of the well-known Milton products are microwavable and dishwasher proof. Milton has introduced Futron electric tiffins which don’t need an oven but can be directly plugged in to get piping hot food. Thermosteel, iFresh, insulated plastic tiffins and Softline are the other attractive ranges from their stable.
BagMat Lyte |
Aesthetics & functionality
“Vaya Tyffyn’s 1000 ml three-tier variants for next generation office and college goers come in attractive colours and themes to go with different settings and occasions. Our lunchbox range with subdued and peppy themes such as Graphite and Maple make Vaya Tyffyn a perfect lunch box for office. Finally, our Tyffyn Jumbo 1300 ml four-tier lunch box would be great for picnics and ideal for two people sharing food,” informs Vasanthkumar.
The modern tiffin carriers have spill proof lock facility, oven proof containers and come in round or oval shapes. Throwing light on its make-over, Kheruka says, “Design plays an important role too. With newer designs and smart looking lunch bags that can be washed, tiffins come in varying shapes and sizes.
Keeping utility in mind, at Borosil we have also laid a big emphasis on design and aesthetic. The ultra-durable bag of Borosil Lunch boxes with colourful prints makes it an instant favourite amongst the kids.” Borosil Klip N Store microwavable lunch box with lunch bag is an attractive set of three transparent containers allowing the consumer the pleasure of visually savoring the contents even before opening it.
Vaya Tyffyn offers stainless steel, insulated, leak proof smart lunch boxes. Their graphite copper-finished oval tiffin carrier springs with a stylish bagmat.
Its double-walled, high vacuum insulated SS shell keeps the food warm and fresh. Collapsible handles, slim body, partitions, vacuum therm insulation, integrated gaskets, heat-protective finger grip, SS pressurising latches in varying sizes of 300ml to 1300ml are some of the features besides animated designs which make Vaya popular.
But they cannot be heated directly on a stove or microwaved. It’s time to grab a dabba of your choice and savour fresh, hot food in style!
