In 2020 the whole restaurant had to survive inside a paper bag on somebody's doorstep, and we learned quickly that a momo which is perfect at the pass can be ruined in twenty minutes by the wrong lid.
The enemy is trapped steam. A sealed container turns a delicate wrapper gummy before the driver has left the block. Vented lids fixed most of it — enough airflow to let the steam go, not so much that the food goes cold. That single change did more for our delivery food than anything else we tried.
Stacking order matters nearly as much. Anything fried travels on top and never under a lid it shares with something steamed. Broth goes in its own container and the momos go in dry, to be tipped in at the table; jhol momo that travels pre-assembled arrives as soup with dumplings in it, which is not the same dish.
Achar rides in a separate pot, sauces go last so they are not sitting under weight, and the bag is packed so the heaviest thing is at the bottom and nothing has to be balanced. It sounds obvious. It is also the difference between a bag that arrives upright and one that does not.
Almost all of the packaging we worked out that year is still what we use today. It was designed under pressure, which turned out to be a reasonable way to design it.
