Innovation That Matters

Indian Pret a Manger?

Food & Drink

British Tiffinbites is a chain of Indian food outlets, which might well be the first real Indian fast food brand. The company gets its name from the classic stacked metal boxes that are used to carry home-cooked Indian lunches. Tiffinbites has replaced tin with plastic, but aims to keep the traditional, home-cooked quality. Food is centrally prepared in North-London, using fresh ingredients and with a much lower fat and oil content than regular Indian take-outs. Tiffinbites offers seated dining, but their neatly packed and stacked boxes are also practical for office workers, who can heat them in office microwaves. Tiffinbites currently has three outlets in London, all of which are attractively designed. Although Indian is one of the fastest spreading cuisines around the world, we haven’t spotted any other successful, well-branded Indian fast food chains.* Convenient, inexpensive, and with plenty of vegetarian options, Tiffinbites is leading the way. Who’s next? ___ * Australian Handi Ghandi had great ambitions, but floundered. Using a cartoon image of Mahatma Gandhi in their logo (since replaced), which sparked very vocal protests from the Gandhi family, certainly didn’t help. Update (1 June 2006): Handi Ghandi recently opened two new restaurants in Sydney and another new one is set to open in Queensland soon. Regarding the logo mishap: according to Handi Ghandi, it garnered interest for the company from all parts of the world, so may not have been an entirely unfortunate incident 😉

Website: www.tiffinbites.com