Indian hotelier in the UK uses Nissan Leaf for green takeaways

A pioneering Indian restaurant owner is making deliveries in a 100 percent electric Nissan Leaf as he aims to create Britain’s greenest takeaway.

Minesh Agnihotri of Indian Summer in Brighton is using the car as he trials a new environmentally friendly waste-free service in the city. The members-only club, being piloted by the restaurant, will see takeaway orders delivered in reusable metal containers known as tiffins. Customers then simply wash the tiffins and hand them back to the delivery driver next time they place an order. The aim is to reduce the packaging and waste associated with ordinary takeaway deliveries.

Using the Leaf for deliveries will also allow the business to dramatically reduce its delivery costs and carbon footprint.

Minesh estimates that making his deliveries by the Leaf would save £8,000 (Rs 7.87 lakh) per year. That’s equivalent to:

888 Mamaji chicken kadahi, 4,000 portions of basmati rice, 4,571 tandoori breads and 10,666 poppadoms!

Minesh said: “I spent a lot of time in India as a child and my mum used to send me to school with my lunch in a tiffin. It was a brilliant system as nothing ever went to waste and everything was reuseable. Since opening Indian Summer, I’ve always had the idea of introducing a tiffin club for my members and the arrival of the new 30kWh Leaf has allowed me to make it happen.

“The vast majority of Brighton people are very environmentally conscious and I’m sure they’re going to love the idea of having a quality Indian meal delivered in a reusable, green container by a zero emissions electric car.”