"You delivered us happiness," reads a review by a customer on the Facebook page of "Cosaporto."
It's a message that underlines how the Italian start-up has been able to tap into a growing need as its home country struggles against the coronavirus.
The site collects and delivers from a range of stores/CGTN
Meaning "What Should I bring" in English, Cosaporto has seen orders triple as it welcomes new customers looking to provide a ray of hope to friends, relatives and even total strangers.
Founded in 2017 to fill a gap in the delivery market, Cosaporto is the first premium-only delivery service in Italy. Patisseries, flower shops, artisanal goods, deli shops and a gourmet ice cream parlor, are just few of the options available to customers wanting to send products across the cities of Rome, Turin, Milan and just recently, London.
Fresh treats as well as gifts are available. /CGTN
"I can say that spending overall has dropped, but if we consider the family budget, we are necessarily saving. So, if before a customer might have been hesitant to spend a little more on a cake, now they wish to keep going with habits and small gestures," says the company's CEO and founder, Stefano Manili.
Customers can add a bespoke message to their delivery and where once most celebrated events such as birthdays, now simple messages of hope and goodwill are predominating. A recent addition to the service is the ability to leave an audio message, which the delivery person will play "from a distance" to avoid close contact.
Together with several partners that work with Cosaporto, quality food has been delivered to the Sacco Hospital in Milan, the San Giovanni in Turin and the Spallanzani in Rome, all of which have been stretched by the pandemic. One woman has even paid for refreshments for 50 people at the Sacco Hospital every weekend until the end of May, according to Manili.
The readjustment of Cosaporto's business model has also seen changes in its partnerships with companies that used to order business lunches or snacks for events. One of these is now arranging home deliveries of small packages for employees' coffee breaks.
"The company does not want to change what it used to do before, even if the meeting is organized online and no longer in the office," Manili explains.
Cosaporto wants to offer more than simply material goods /CGTN
Manili sees some of the changes brought about by the virus as simply an acceleration of trends that were occurring anyway as more and more restaurants open takeaway services.
"They would have gotten there in a couple of years anyway," he observes.