Normal vs Deluxe: how to design two tiffin options customers actually understand

Offering two options, a normal tiffin and a deluxe one, is popular for good reason. It lets a budget-conscious customer say yes, and it lets a customer who wants more pay for more. But a badly explained second option creates confusion, extra work, and mistakes in the kitchen.

Start from the work, not the price

Before you decide a price, decide what is actually different in the box. Customers should be able to describe the difference in one sentence. For example:

• Normal: dal, one vegetable, roti, rice.
• Deluxe: everything in Normal, plus a second vegetable, a sweet or a special item, and a larger portion.

If you cannot say it in one sentence, the tiers are too complicated. Complicated tiers lead to "I thought deluxe included paneer" conversations.

Keep the kitchen simple

Every extra variation slows you down. A good test: can you prepare the deluxe box by adding to the normal box, rather than cooking a different meal? Adding a side is easy. Cooking a separate main for each deluxe customer is not.

This is also why a count matters. When you know the exact number of normal and deluxe boxes for the day, you can batch-cook the base and add the extras accurately. MyTiffin shows both numbers on the Today screen.

Set the gap on purpose

An illustration: if the normal box costs 80 and the deluxe costs 120, the customer is paying 40 extra for the additions. Ask yourself: does the extra food cost, plus a fair margin for the extra work, come to about 40? If it does not, adjust the contents or the price. Do not guess.

The numbers above are only an example. Your costs, area and customers are your own. Work them out from your actual ingredient costs.

Let customers move between tiers

Some customers will want deluxe only on certain days, such as a birthday or weekend. You can decide whether to allow it. If you do, make it a clear rule ("tell me by the evening before") and use the same cut-off as your leave policy.

Name the tiers simply

"Normal" and "Deluxe" work because they need no explanation. Fancy names (Gold, Platinum, Royal) tend to make people ask what is inside. Keep the names plain and put the contents in your message.

Review every few months

Look at which tier customers choose and why. If almost nobody picks deluxe, it may be priced too high or not different enough. If almost everybody picks it, your normal box may be underpriced or your deluxe is simply your standard, and the names are doing nothing.

In short: a clear difference in the box, a gap that covers real costs, and an easy way to count. That is what makes two tiers work.