Office Tiffin Service: How to Choose One for Lunch

An office tiffin service is a kitchen that cooks lunch and delivers boxes to your workplace on the days you agree. To choose a good one, confirm that the kitchen delivers to your office address, agree the leave and billing rules in writing, ask about its food-safety registration, and take a short trial before paying for a month.

This guide is for people who eat tiffin at work in India: an employee who wants lunch at the desk, or the person in a small office who arranges lunch for a team. It is general information, not medical or legal advice.

What is an office tiffin service?

A tiffin is a home-style meal packed in a box. An office tiffin service delivers that box to a workplace instead of a home. Some kitchens cook only for individuals, some take a group order from one office, and some do both. Arrangements differ from kitchen to kitchen, so treat the points below as questions to ask, not as rules every kitchen follows.

Should I order for myself or for the whole team?

Both work. The right choice depends on who handles leave and payment.

If you are the coordinator, decide early whether each person can speak to the kitchen about their own leave. Passing every message through one person gets tiring within a few weeks.

What should I ask before I subscribe?

Use this checklist when you call or message a kitchen. Write the answers down.

1. Do you deliver to this office address? Give the exact area and floor access details, and ask about the delivery time window.
2. Which meals and plans do you offer? Ask about lunch only or lunch plus dinner, and about portion sizes or plan names such as Normal and Deluxe.
3. How do I take leave, and what is the cut-off? A cut-off is the last time you can tell the kitchen you will skip a meal. Ask for it as a clear time, for example "9 am the same day" or "8 pm the day before".
4. How is the month billed? Ask whether you pay for boxes actually delivered or a fixed amount, and when payment is due.
5. What happens on holidays and festival days? Ask whether the kitchen is open and whether the menu changes.
6. Can I try it first? A trial of a few days tells you more than any description.
7. Do you have an FSSAI number? More on this below.

How do leave and the monthly bill work? (worked example)

The numbers here are examples only. Your kitchen's price and rules will differ.

Suppose a lunch box costs Rs 100 (example) and your office has 22 working days this month. You are away for 2 of them and you told the kitchen before the cut-off.

If you miss the cut-off, the box may already be cooked, so ask in advance whether a late leave is charged. Agree this before the first day, because a late leave is an easy thing to disagree about later.

A good habit is to keep your own tally of delivered days. At the end of the month, compare it with the kitchen's count before you pay.

Why does the cut-off time matter so much?

The kitchen cooks in the morning for the number of boxes it expects. A late leave can mean a box already cooked, which is why kitchens set a cut-off. On MyTiffin's own help page, a provider can set a meal cut-off in settings, such as lunch until 9 am on the same day, and the help page says that if meal cut-offs are not set, customers can mark leave from tomorrow onwards. A rule like that is easiest to live with when it is written down and the same for everyone.

What about food safety and the FSSAI number?

FSSAI is the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the country's food-safety regulator; see its site at fssai.gov.in. FSSAI regulates food businesses, and it is reasonable to ask a kitchen for its number. Ask politely: "Do you have an FSSAI number, or is it in progress?"

An FSSAI number is not a guarantee of taste or hygiene on any given day, and a missing number is not proof of a problem. It is one signal among several. The trial week, how clean the boxes arrive and how the kitchen answers questions tell you the rest.

How do I run a one-week trial?

1. Ask for 3 to 5 days of lunch before you commit to a month.
2. Note delivery time each day. Is it inside the window you agreed?
3. Check temperature, packing and portion size.
4. Check how the kitchen replied when you asked a question or changed a day.
5. Ask the team for feedback if it is a team order, and only then confirm the month.

How can I find kitchens near my office?

On MyTiffin's find page you can enter a pincode or address, or share a location, and the page lists kitchens that deliver to you, nearest first. For an office lunch, use the office pincode rather than your home pincode. The page says results can be narrowed by veg, meals, rating and distance, and each kitchen shows photos, food type, meals, prices and customer reviews, with call and WhatsApp options.

Two honest limits. MyTiffin is a place to find and contact kitchens; it is not a food-ordering or delivery platform, so you agree the details with the kitchen directly. And a listing shows that a kitchen is visible, not that it will take an office order, so ask the questions above first.

FAQ

How much does an office tiffin service cost?

It depends on the kitchen, the city and the plan. We do not have a reliable price for India as a whole, so ask each kitchen for its monthly price and what it includes. Treat any figure in a blog post, including the example above, as an illustration.

Can one office order tiffins for the whole team?

Some kitchens take group orders and some do not. Ask whether the kitchen takes group orders, whether people can choose between plans, and who is billed.

What if I am on leave for a week?

Tell the kitchen before the cut-off and ask in advance how longer leave is handled. Some kitchens count it day by day; others have their own rule. Get the answer in writing.

Should I pay for the whole month before the first delivery?

Try a short trial first. After that, agree when payment is due and what it covers, and keep a record of the amount you paid.

What this guide does not cover

It does not give prices, nutrition or diet advice, or legal and tax advice. The example bill is an illustration, not a quote. Kitchens, rules and listings change, so check the details with the kitchen and the live pages before you decide.

If you are ready to look, start at MyTiffin's find page with your office pincode.

Sources

• MyTiffin, Help and Find a tiffin, read on 2026-10-30.
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, fssai.gov.in, read on 2026-10-30.