There is an implicit romance in the art of buying fish. But also the walk to the market or the beach, the playful chidings, the laughter-filled, tongue in cheek haggling with the fisherwomen, many of whom who know your life and your tastes, as much as she knows her fish. You may even manage to keep a Goan from his fish but never from the fish market.
Entry COVID. Exit Romance. Entry practicality. The fish, like the show, must go on and Goan businesses and consumers have innovated to work around the romance and still get the fish home.
“During the crisis situation, when the residents of Vasant Vihar Apartments in Taleigao pitched in on a common Whatsapp platform and arranged for essentials such as milk, eggs, bread, fish vegetables and fruits in the society,” said the Chairman of the Vasant Vihar Society Ajay Borkar.
“The orders had to be booked in advance with full payments which were done by the member who took the initiative. After receiving the delivery, he arranged for the proper distribution” added Dr. Siddharth Sawaikar, the treasurer of the Vasant Vihar Society.
Among the suppliers to many of the apartments in Goa, Pooja Sea Foods, which was launched by Nitin Shetty in October 2006 a leading exporter of fresh seafood from Goa.
“We launched the first leg in early April on a WhatsApp group with a UPI option for payment, which has grown organically. We serve about 60-75 orders via WhatsApp and calls. Initially, we had one round of delivery, but later cut fish for a late afternoon delivery,” said Shetty.
He added that their focus has been on educating people on the health benefits of different varieties of seafood. Though we have noticed that people here do not consume too much nutritious fish like rohu, salmon, tuna, etc.
Newton De Souza, a professional entertainer, supplies meat products to various hotels and resorts in Goa under the brand name Meat Hook. He too latched upon the opportunity staring at him during this lockdown. “I used Whatsapp and Facebook to connect with my clients who were looking for fresh fish and started it on March 22 when Janta curfew was imposed. I built new relationships with people now with the help of technology,” said Newton De Souza.
Initially, Newton started door to door service but it became very difficult for him to serve the calling customers. “I shifted my business model by marking pick up points setting a fixed time. People came to these points, masked and maintained safe distance to pick up what they wanted,” said Newton De Souza.
In normal circumstances, many would buy vegetables which last them for two days and then buy a fresh lot in the third day. Tabrez Khadarbasha Makashi of Taleigaon figured this and began by sharing his Whatsapp numbers to various residential complexes in many parts of Goa, in and around Panjim.
“I was called by many residential complexes through Whatsapp and I would fix timings for each complex twice a week which was comfortable for people to pick up fresh veggies and fruits.”
Clearly life gives you lockdowns but it also gives you lifelines. Phone a fish ( and veggies) is the best lifeline a fish-loving Goan could ever have.
