Thoda khao, thoda baato: How daily food redistribution works in India to avoid wastage

As a food app tries to fill the gap in the puzzle of redistributing excess food, Sunday mid-day speaks to long-functioning food saviours

Earlier this week, food delivery app Zomato introduced a new feature called Food Rescue that offered customers, within a certain radius, cancelled orders at a discount. However, the program failed to convince many restaurateurs to come on board—they had concerns about potential damage to brand loyalty, as there is was no assurance that food quality would be maintained.

Despite being the world’s second-largest food producer after China, India ranked 105th out of 127 countries on the Hunger Index in 2024. When countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh rank higher on this index, as seen in 2021, 2022 and 2023, it becomes a matter of national ego. The solution may be in our kitchens.

After a long day of delivering fresh meals to the metropolis’ workforce, around 250 dabbawalas begin collecting leftover food from homes across the city. They regularly take this food to 200 to 250 people, responding to calls from contacts within communities, primarily between Nariman Point and Mahim.

Dhanushkodi Sivanandhan and Abhinas Nayak

Word of mouth has been their primary means of informing beneficiaries about food redistribution since it began in 2016. Most of their calls come from banquet halls, corporate seminars, and similar events.

Subhash Talekar, President, Mumbai Dabbawala Association and Founder, Roti Bank—a non-profit that redistributes leftover food—says, “We aim to complete redistribution by 9 pm, when the food is still safe to consume as we don’t have cold storage facilities. Collection usually happens between 6 pm to 8.30 pm. Around 250 dabbawalas are dedicated to collection. On average, we receive 20 to 25 calls daily, and on weekends, it goes up to 35.”

This small initiative in India’s largest metropolis is one of only a few services focused on distributing excess food to those in need. Talekar, who was raised in Byculla, explains, “If you take the Coastal Road, the Western Express Highway, or other pukka roads, you miss the poverty that plagues the city. But if you follow a dabbawala’s bicycle, it will lead you through slums lining or sitting right in the middle of areas with the highest real estate prices in India, or even in Asia. Food scarcity is very evident in these underbellies.”

A community fridge at Mohammed Ali Road, by All Men and Women Working for Humanity Always, an NGO founded by Zohra Morbiwala. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Reports from the past seven years suggest that around 72 per cent of the waste generated daily in Mumbai comprises food waste, including vegetable peels, eggshells, and meat scraps, but also edible food that is either discarded or goes bad such as vegetables, fruits, and meat,  and cooked food.

Robin Hood Army (RHA), a Delhi-based organisation now active in 10 countries, also provides a similar service in Mumbai, operating across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). “The organisation has divided the city into 28 sections,” Nidhi Sanghai, the organisation’s Mumbai representative, told Sunday mid-day, “Each managed by a representative with dedicated WhatsApp groups. People who wish to donate leftovers can contact us through our website, which has a link to the respective WhatsApp group. The “Robins” then coordinate with the representative in that area.”

“We do our best to collect food from anyone who contacts us,” says Sanghai, “but on weekdays, sometimes the volunteers aren’t always available as most of them are working professionals.”

About 250 dabbawalas collect leftover food from community events across Mumbai and redistribute it to the poor

On average, each of RHA’s 28 clusters in the MMR conducts two to three food redistribution drives per month. If a donation comprises only five or six servings, they encourage the donor to share it within their community, with domestic help, watchmen, and others. RHA organises redistribution drives for donations of 15 or more servings.

While dabbawalas distribute leftover food to anyone they come across, RHA organises drives in areas with known demand. Both organisations do scent and taste checks for freshness before redistribution.

Residents of Powai’s Manubhai Chawl were informed about food redistribution for Children’s Day; they came ready with plates and bowls. The crowd swells once distribution starts, even as the Robins volunteers prioritise children.

The cook who feeds this writer was among the crowd for pav bhaji. When asked if she came to these drives regularly, she said, “Inko pehli baar dekha hai… Aur log bhi aate hain kabhi-kabhi. Main aayi kyuki free khaana nahi chhodne ka…” [They are here for the first time, but other NGOs drop by. I came because you should never refuse free food.] Her friend thanked the RHA, saying, “It has been one year since we went to a restaurant to eat pav bhaji.”
 
Handling excess food comes with many challenges—collection, packaging, reheating, and distributing it before it spoils. Former Maharashtra police chief Dhanushkodi Sivanandan, who launched an initiative similar to Talekar’s, also called Roti Bank, explains, “Not many people handle collection and redistribution of leftover food in Mumbai. There are challenges in handling food from weddings and large events, such as collecting it late at night, then immediately finding someone to distribute it to as it’s usually prepared the evening before. Additionally, reheating can sometimes diminish nutritional value. The meals are often incomplete, too—sometimes only rice, or just dal, or salad. So, I started my own facility where fresh meals are prepared and distributed across the city. We have now expanded to Hyderabad, Coimbatore, and other cities.”

The former Maharashtra DGP, who redistributed leftover food during the COVID-19 pandemic, says, “I approached several five-star hotels and clubs in Mumbai for surplus food. However, all the five-star hotels refused, concerned about legal liability if anyone fell ill after consuming their leftovers. Even when I offered to take on the legal responsibility myself, they raised concerns about brand reputation. They didn’t want to risk their names if any issues arose, so most of it is thrown away. While some hotels may donate, most five-stars have a policy of discarding leftovers.”

Abhinas Nayak, who runs a cloud kitchen in Navi Mumbai and a restaurant in Santacruz, confirms this: “It takes years to build a brand name, and most hotel chains prefer throwing away surplus food instead of risking bad PR. Most hotels discard even fresh leftovers because of this policy. There are very few NGOs that successfully convince hotels.” Nayak was the winner of MasterChef India Season Six (2019-20).

Talekar and Sivanandan, who initially collaborated in the organisation the former founded, say leftover food collection peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many were migrating on foot to their native places. Talekar’s organisation collected food from relief camps, railway canteens, and private kitchens.

Among the NGOs involved in similar efforts was Jeevan Dhara. However, like Sivanandan, Jeevan Dhara has stopped collecting leftovers but still distributes excess food if it’s brought to them. Gene D’Silva, who handles Operations at Jeevan Dhara explains, “Logistics and funding are major challenges. Storing leftover food, reheating it, and distributing it before it spoils requires substantial logistical support in the form of refrigerated vehicles and portable ovens, which we lack. IIT Bombay approached us for 200 plus plates (per day) of leftover food from their canteen, but since we don’t have the kind of infrastructure, we couldn’t collaborate.”

A solution may be cooking: Well-placed sources tell Sunday mid-day that a major food redistribution organisation and a top food delivery app are in talks to redistribute all the cancelled orders.

Community fridges are an effective solution for managing leftover food, but they are still a rare sight in Mumbai. Sunday mid-day visited Veera Desai Road to check on a community fridge that operated there between 2016 to 2018. According to a medical store employee next door, the fridge was stolen two years ago, and hardly any food was placed in it. Another community fridge near Jio World Drive sits empty and unpowered.

However Zohra Morbiwala’s organisation, All Men and Women Working for Humanity Always, has a solution. They’ve installed 15 community fridges in Marol, Nagpada Junction, Mazgaon Garden, Mohammad Ali Road, Bhendi Bazaar, and other places. To prevent theft, they are in a wire mesh cage secured by a lock and chain. “I wanted to start an initiative to collect and distribute leftovers, but challenges like late-night responsibilities and labour costs prevented me from doing so. But Mumbai has money. A small organisation like ours may not be able to afford this, but there are big players who can easily do this. But they don’t. It says a lot about how seriously we take food.”

She sheds light on what it takes to manage community fridges. “Since these fridges are located outdoors,” she says, “some people—sometimes drug addicts—open each packet, taste the food, and leave it back in the fridge. Each fridge requires a dedicated volunteer to sanitise them regularly and remove any food that is no longer safe for consumption.”

Food management is tough. A June 2024 research by Ashoka University’s Centre for Social and Behaviour Change highlights key factors contributing to food waste in Indian households, including bulk buying to avail discounts, impulsive buying, difficulty in meal planning, and cultural norms that prioritise serving excess food especially to children and guests. Additionally, many perceive small amounts of waste as inevitable, the study says.

Sanghai says calls for leftover food have decreased in the past year, which shows a growing apathy towards food wastage. Earlier, RHA would receive four to five calls per month for each of the 28 sections; today the number has halved.

“We can manage our food much better,” says Nayak, “especially at home. There are two types of waste: One before cooking, and the other after. Carrot or radish peels, for example, can easily be repurposed for broths, pickles, or even made into crisps if cleaned properly. Herbs can be wrapped in a moist cloth and refrigerated to extend shelf life. You can also regularly check your fridge to see which items may spoil, especially if you shop for a fortnight’s worth of groceries at once. Unfortunately, these things aren’t taught in schools.”

Wastage of cooked food is particularly painful. “At home or in a hotel/restaurant, no chef wants to see food thrown away because they put their heart and soul into it,” Nayak says, “But policies, especially in hotel chains that offer round-the-clock room service, buffet breakfasts, and so on, generate too much wastage. Once food is cooked, its window for safe consumption is just 10 to 12 hours, depending on the weather. In the hospitality industry, it may not be feasible to prepare food in small batches, but at home, you can easily measure ingredients and plan accordingly, even when you have guests.” He adds that it also matters how excess food is given away: “As chefs, we are taught that food should be presented well to enhance its appeal. However, when we give food away, most of us overlook this aspect.”

RHA’s Sanghai shares a similar sentiment, recalling an instance when corporate seminars combined multiple dishes, including a spoiled one, while donating them. “Our volunteer simply couldn’t accept the food, which would have been enough for 10 to 15 people. If they hadn’t mixed in the curd dish, the rest of the food could have been eaten. However, since it was summer, the curd item had started to spoil. We forget that we are giving this food to humans; just because they are poor doesn’t mean they should accept anything.”

72
Percentage of the waste generated daily in Mumbai that consists of food waste

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