MyFishman is founded on two simple concepts: to deliver a fresh local variety of seafood, while maintaining a sustainable fishing ecosystem through the support of our local fishermen.
Established by Audrey Goo in March 2016, MyFishman aims to reduce pressure on high-in-demand fishes, especially during peak season.
“My father was a fishmonger and everyone called my dad ‘Mai Yu Rou’, meaning a man who sells fish in Cantonese. He was a trustworthy and honest man who earned a living by selling fish,” said Audrey.
“The name and his values have been ingrained in me since young, so when I decided to start this business, I wanted to bring all these values to our customers too; an honest, fresh and tasty seafood to all, hence the name MyFishman—a fresh seafood delivery service you can trust.”
Growing up in a small fishing village in Kuala Selangor, Audrey is familiar with the local seafood and in touch with many of the issues that have plagued our fishing industry.
“Due to high demand in certain fish types, some of the fish have significantly reduced in population in our sea. We will need to import high-in-demand fish to Malaysia from our neighbouring countries while our less in-demand local fishes are exported out,” she said.
This reduces the freshness of the seafood as the time for the fish to reach the consumer has increased due to the longer distance and lack of freezing technology.
To overcome this issue, Audrey believes they need to educate consumers on seafood varieties to enable them to relieve some pressure on high-demand seafood. Therefore, they introduced a new idea called a FreshBox.
“FreshBox is a concept of mixing your preferred seafood with our selection of other fresh off-the-boat seafood that are in season. However, we promise that whatever they are getting is fresh and we also provide an online recipe for customers who do not know how to cook the seafood.”
“With this concept, the customer will get to eat their preferred seafood and at the same time, try new seafood selections and add variety into their diet and meals.”
A FreshBox can contain several variety of seafood, such as sardine, anchovy, flounder, stingray, flower crab, squid, sea prawn, and more. They range in price between RM100 for at least 10 types of fishes, up to RM 250, which yields a quantity more suitable for parties or events.
The fish and shellfish are handpicked by the local fishermen and will be gutted, cleaned and frozen within 48 hours of docking before being packed into the FreshBox.
All of the seafood is individually packed and kept in a cooler box throughout delivery to Kuala Lumpur for distribution.
MyFishman also sell a wide range of products besides the FreshBoxes. These include fish slices and fillets, steamboat packages, and even homemade sauces.
Within their first month of operating, MyFishman sold 20 FreshBoxes.
Although the amount wasn’t impressive, the response they got on the quality of their seafood was very positive.
Within a year, the demand for FreshBoxes increased to more than 100 boxes a month and they are expecting to deliver to locations out of Klang Valley soon.
As they have limited manpower, MyFishman chooses to outsource their delivery services with a partner. However, they do have to keep within a gruelling delivery time: within one hour from their store to the customer’s doorstep.
The startup is committed to working together with local fishermen to support them and create a bright future for the fishing industry long-term.
“We have got more than 80% returning customers and 70% (or more) of our new orders are from referrals.”
“We consider this as one of our most significant milestones because as a young startup, getting such a high rate of customers signifies that we are onto something right and word of mouth is the best testimonial a company can get.”
Being the first platform to introduce such a concept in Malaysia, they hope they can do their bit to help keep the industry flourishing and sustainable.
If their online reviews are anything to go by, it seems that their customers are all too happy to use and support their service and products, which can only be all the better for the environment in the long run.
“Sustainable fishery is a complex issue which involves many parties. However, in MyFishman, we believe change can start from us. By providing more information and educating our consumers, it will help to change the types of fishes in demand and in turn, relieve pressure on those fishes and allow growing opportunities.”
Feature Image Credit: MyFishman