The venture “WE KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE FRESH FISH (Fresh Fish)” is a story of each stakeholder at
every step in the journey of the fish from the sea until it is enjoyed by a happy family.
In June 2020 fishermen gave their catch to us and we started supplying fish in our neighbourhood in
Muttukadu on the outskirts of Chennai, but the fishermen were always giving us surplus to what
could be shared among friends and neighbours. We took a clue from vegetable-selling vehicles and
one day I spoke to one of the vegetable truck guys and asked him if we could follow him with the fish
we have. He obliged and the next day on the 19th of June 2020 we packed about 30 kgs of fish,
placed them in the ice box and followed the vegetable vehicle. People who came to buy vegetables
were shown our fish and we convinced some people to try our fish’s quality and gave them some
fish for 200 Rs per pack. In return, we took their phone numbers. Most of them were happy to give
their phone numbers.
We started getting some direction with the partial opening of lockdown in June when fish transport
was allowed from different villages. Fishermen from Nemmili, Kattkuppam started calling us every
day to take their catches and we had no choice but to come up with ideas to sell these fish. Within 3
weeks we covered almost every street on the east coast road from Injambakkam to Uthandi and
some parts of OMR, we had collected more than 200 phone numbers by 3rd August 2020. At this
point, we went back to the fishermen and told them that we are in a position to take all that they
would catch at a good price. Within weeks many people who had shared their numbers started
buying repeatedly.
This is when the venture “We know how to choose fresh fish” started its inception. Informally the
start happened on the 15th of August 2020 when we bought a packing machine, an ozone water
treatment unit and some stainless steel cutting tables. By the end of August 2020, we could deliver
fresh fish to about 40 customers daily. In a time when people have been facing pay cuts and losing
jobs, we could help more than 50 fishermen with livelihood and give jobs to 15 people.
Now we are the team that delivers fresh seafood in Chennai. We are heading up for an expansion
and this is only the beginning of our fresh fish journey