Tiffin Service: 60 Plates, One Pressure Cooker and No Registration
A first-year Food Service Management student in Coimbatore wants to run a home tiffin service for 60 office workers, 26 days a month. The daily menu is idli with chutney, lemon rice and curd rice. Daily costs are: rice 12 kg at ₹55/kg, urad dal 2 kg at ₹120/kg, oil 0.5 litre at ₹140/litre, vegetables ₹250, cooking gas ₹30, packaging ₹6 per tiffin, delivery ₹4 per tiffin and a helper's wage of ₹300. The kitchen is at home, so no rent is charged. Equipment costs ₹18,000 and is expected to last three years. The student plans to charge ₹50 per tiffin and has not yet registered the business. A local caterer charges ₹65 per tiffin.
1. Calculate the daily cost per tiffin and the contribution per tiffin at ₹50.
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Daily cost: rice 12 × ₹55 = ₹660; urad dal 2 × ₹120 = ₹240; oil 0.5 × ₹140 = ₹70; vegetables ₹250; gas ₹30; packaging 60 × ₹6 = ₹360; delivery 60 × ₹4 = ₹240; helper ₹300. Total = ₹2,150 per day. Cost per tiffin = 2,150 ÷ 60 = ₹35.83. At a price of ₹50, contribution per tiffin = 50 − 35.83 = ₹14.17. Daily contribution = 60 × ₹14.17 = ₹850. This contribution is what is available to recover equipment and to pay the owner's own labour. If the owner values her time at even ₹300 a day, the true surplus falls to ₹550 a day, so the margin is thinner than it looks.
2. Calculate the break-even number of tiffins for recovering the equipment cost, and decide whether ₹50 is viable.
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Equipment break-even = ₹18,000 ÷ ₹850 per day = 21.2 days. At 26 working days a month, the equipment is recovered in about 22 selling days, or about 1,272 tiffins (21.2 × 60). That looks viable, but it assumes 60 tiffins are sold every day and ignores the owner's labour. Depreciation is ₹18,000 ÷ 36 months = ₹500 a month, about ₹19 a day, or ₹0.32 a tiffin, which is small. The real risk is volume: at 45 tiffins a day, contribution is 45 × ₹14.17 = ₹638, and equipment recovery takes 28 days. At ₹50 the price is workable only with full sales and low waste. A price of ₹55 gives ₹19.17 contribution and a buffer; ₹50 is acceptable as an introductory price if the student tracks waste and reviews it after one month.
3. Identify two food-safety or legal requirements the student must meet before starting, and one financial risk with a control.
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Legal and food-safety requirements: FSSAI registration before selling. A home tiffin service with turnover below the basic-registration threshold can take basic registration; above it, a state licence is required. The kitchen must have potable water, pest control, clean surfaces, separate washing areas, food-grade packaging and a medical fitness check for the owner and helper. If delivering, keep hot food above 60°C and cold food below 5°C, and record delivery times. A municipal trade licence or shop-and-establishment permission may also apply. Financial risk: vegetable and dal prices can rise sharply, and one week of unsold tiffins can wipe out the margin. Control it with a weekly menu, monthly prepaid subscriptions, a small price buffer, and a rule to cook only against confirmed orders. Do not start delivery before registration is displayed.