Andhra Mess

I have been thinking for quite some time to write about the ubiquitous Andhra mess. They are present all around the institute and all around Chennai. I saw a lot of them in Bangalore too. It is perhaps one of the most visible and present yet uncelebrated restaurant brands. 

The business model of an Andhra mess is very simple. They do not have a lengthy list of food items. They specialize in a maximum of 5 food items. Most common is Biryani (Veg, Chicken, Egg) and meals (similar to a Veg Thali). Add omllette and egg fry. The meals are usually priced at 50 Rupees and are very fulfilling. Veg Biryani is similarly priced around 40-50 rupees. Non-Veg is usually 20-30 rupees more than veg but it is still cheaper than the alternative places. The limited range of products helps them to keep the costs really low. 

Since they prepare a limited amount of items they just have to repeat the same cooking procedure every day. They can practice mass production of few and limited numbers of food items. It keeps costs low, minimizes waste, quality and taste are uniform, lowers service costs and time, the experience of eating is more or less the same. Fewer food items mean that the costs and manpower required to open any new Andhra mess is low. Finally the customer experience of the food that would be served is predictably standardized. 

The area around institute has seen a big boom in numbers of Andhra Mess in last few years. This has been helped by falling standards of institute mess food. We end up eating out most of the time these days. At IIT Madras, you generally register for a mess at the start of every month. So people have the choice of changing messes and eating according to their preference. But that would have helped if there was something to differentiate between the messes. They all cook the same stew. We are sure about the quality, taste and the experience of the food that would be served but not in a positive manner. 

But the illusion of choice helps to keep the system from breaking down. At the start of every month it is common to ask one’s mates, “Which mess are you in dude?” With the opening of Andhra messes, now the answer to the question is "Andhra Mess". 

Every new Andhra mess is very creatively named as 'New Andhra Mess'. Sometimes a number of Andhra messes next to each other vie for the claim of originality. Some of them are sophisticated enough to accept Sodexo food coupons. They also provide order over phone and room delivery. Some places even have specialized packaging (they pack the meal in plastic plates and bowls instead of plastics bags) in order to make it very convenient to eat an ordered meal. Just open and eat. 

The Andhra mess economy by any estimate must be big. Institute has about 8000 residents. Assume that half of them often eat outside in these Andhra messes. And they spend an average of 1000 rupees on eating at these places. This would translate into an annual spending of 4 crores (or 40 million INR), counting out two months of holidays. My estimates are on the lower side, since I know people who eat almost every meal there.