actor to be their brand ambassador and will start marketing online there have been challenges though packing material was not always available and since multiple orders had to be delivered during a single trip we had to ensure heavy fruits like melons were not placed on top of smaller ones like kiwis recalls jainlike tfp charkopbased mahesh gawdes doorstep fish delivery service too operates completely over whatsapp a member of the all india game fishing association aigfa gawde has been engaged in fishing as a hobby for a decade but he took up fish selling as a full time occupation only after work at a firm where he worked as a digital imaging technician dried up now his fish business is doing so well that gawde is looking for a successor to take over once lockdown ends and he goes back to work at the firm again i did not have much capital investment to start off but knew where the best fish could be sourced from he saidgawdes day starts at 3am as he heads to madh marve on his scooter he buys fish in auctions conducted by fishermens associations by 6am he is back home and starts stocking the fish in ice if the prawns arent chilled enough they turn black and fetch less money gawde said he sends across a list of available stock to customers over whatsapp the fish is then packed as per orders and delivered to the customers doorstep the only hitch he has faced is being stopped repeatedly in police nakabandisi dont have an epass that essential service providers during the lockdown possess but the cops have been understanding so far and havent charged me he said from 25 customers initially gawde has gone up to 150 in three months and sometimes finds it tough to handle everything alone but his loyal customer base they start calling up if there is a slight delay in sending messages about the days stock drive him to keep goingthe lockdown also spurred some startups to venture into untapped territory parthaa kundu founder of delhibased fishappy had a majority of his clientele in gurgaon prelockdown but with delhis borders getting sealed once covid19 started to spread kundu had to look for new clientele inside the capital what worked for us was that families grounded at home preferred ordering raw food products and cooking them rather than ordering precooked meals people were also concerned about covid19 infections if they stepped out of home so even those living a stones throw away from the fish market preferred my delivery service says kundu who first collects orders from customers online before conveying it to his network of verified vendors from whom he sources fish his small team of employees then go over to collect the fish pack them and deliver orders advertising is only through word of mouth i have understood peoples tastes and business has gone up by about 80 says kunduwhile it may take long for mumbais fleshandblood