Fipola was a pandemic hit. Then it vanished.

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Editor's note: A yellow hoarding in Chennai features popular actor Nayanthara and reads “It’s a superstore-superstar team-up”. It’s an endorsement of Chennai-based meat company Fipola, of which she has been the face and identity since August. Fipola is yellow and Fipola is Nayanthara.  Fipola was founded in late 2016 and it sells processed meat online as well as in its own stores. It was started by Sushil Kanugolu, a second-generation businessman whose family owns frozen seafood business SR Marine Foods.  For about three years, Fipola was run as a small-time business in the shadow of SR Marine. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, changed things. During lockdowns in Chennai, Fipola emerged as a prominent meat retailer. The company developed relationships with meat vendors in and around the city and started expanding, leveraging relationships from the seafood business. Additionally, Sushil Kanugolu is the brother of the election strategist Sunil Kanugolu, who has campaigned for the BJP and the DMK and currently works for the Congress party, which gives the family connections with local authorities.  Fipola had everything going for it and, in the pandemic, Sushil …