Sweet Karam Coffee has partnered with Mumbai’s dabbawalas as part of its efforts to deepen its presence in the city, one of its key growth markets outside South India.
The campaign draws a connection between the dabbawalas’ longstanding role in delivering home-cooked meals across Mumbai and Sweet Karam Coffee’s focus on bringing traditional food, recipes and memories to contemporary consumers. It centres on the idea of food as a link to home and community, while highlighting the people and everyday rituals associated with it.
For Sweet Karam Coffee, the partnership also supports its broader positioning as a modern custodian of traditional Indian food. The brand draws on recipes and stories passed down through generations, including those associated with its fictionalised brand character Janaki Paati, to introduce regional flavours to consumers beyond their places of origin.
Anand Bharadhwaj, Co-founder, Sweet Karam Coffee, said, “For us, this collaboration is ultimately about the feeling of home. Mumbai has shown us that food rooted in one part of India can find love and belonging far beyond its place of origin. The dabbawalas have carried that feeling across the city for generations, and we felt there was a natural connection between their story and our ambition to make traditional Indian food relevant to contemporary consumers without losing the memories, recipes, and emotions that make it special.”
Conceptualised and created by Sweet Karam Coffee’s in-house video team, the campaign features the brand’s Peanut Chikki, made without liquid glucose, as a representation of familiar Indian food memories. The brand is using the campaign to introduce its traditional snacks and flavours to a wider Mumbai audience and position regional foods as everyday choices rather than niche offerings.
The partnership comes as Mumbai becomes an increasingly important market for Sweet Karam Coffee. The brand says its business in the city has been recording double-digit month-on-month growth, with products including Andhra Spicy Murukku and Ghee Mysore Pak seeing strong demand.
Nalini Parthiban, CEO, Sweet Karam Coffee, said, “This campaign is not a standalone brand activation but part of our larger long-term focus on the Mumbai market. This collaboration is one step towards deepening our presence across online and offline channels, including quick commerce, D2C, modern trade, micro EBOs and additional physical retail formats. We are also expanding beyond snacks, with the vision of becoming a holistic South Indian food brand for every occasion – from everyday snacking and pantry staples to beverages, gifting and celebration moments.”
In Maharashtra, Sweet Karam Coffee is available across online channels and is expanding its offline presence across Mumbai and Pune. The brand currently follows a shop-in-shop model and has partnered with Freshpik and GoFresh as part of its retail expansion.
The dabbawala collaboration is therefore positioned as part of a greater market-building effort, as Sweet Karam Coffee looks to expand beyond snacks and establish its South Indian food portfolio across more consumption occasions.
