Raghunandan Kamath: This Is How The ¡®Ice Cream Man Of India¡¯ Managed To Capture The Imagination Of A Nation

A lot of people have to let go of their dreams because they don't have the privilege to fulfil them.

But this man with his hard work made sure that he gets what he desires and in the end achieved it.

We are talking about Mulky Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath (founder of Natural Ice Cream), the son of a poor fruit vendor, who made his way from a mud house in a Karnataka village to Mumbai, the city of dreams, a few decades ago, and today heads a Rs 300 crore turnover in natural ice-cream company.

Who is Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath?

Raghunandan Kamath, Founder of Natural Ice Cream Pvt Ltd in Mumbai | BCCL

Raghunandan Kamath was born in Mulki, Karnataka, in 1954. He was the youngest of seven siblings. Born into humble beginnings, Raghunandan experienced a very idyllic childhood in his home village. He spent his days climbing trees, exploring the surroundings and indulging in mischief whenever possible. Kamath family¡¯s financial conditions were always poor. Raghunandan¡¯s father was a humble fruit vendor and earned just barely enough to sustain his seven children and his wife's needs.

Raghunandan Kamath, Founder of Natural Ice Cream Pvt Ltd in Mumbai | BCCL

Raghunandan¡¯s family moved to Mumbai when he was 15-years-old to start working alongside his brother in an eatery because his family¡¯s financial conditions were not ideal. He lived with his family in a 12 by 12-foot room (kholi) in a chawl at Juhu in Mumbai.

The brain behind Naturals Ice Cream

Everyone knows that ice cream is one of the favourite snacks and the top picks for dessert after dinner.

That yummy, beautiful, colourful ice cream on a cone can be just the thing to uplift your mood at any given time. That is the magic of ice cream. From mango, strawberry, coconut to lobster and corn ice cream, there are plenty of flavours to fall in love with. Yes! You heard that right and all thanks to Raghunandan Kamath's natural ice cream.

Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath founder of naturals ice cream | Thebetterindia

After failing to clear his boards twice, Raghunandan Kamath was sent to join his brother¡¯s South Indian eatery and sell their homemade ice cream. Over there, he had the idea of selling homemade ice cream and he wanted to go beyond chocolate and vanilla flavours to make ice cream with real fruit pulp.

Eventually, after the brother¡¯s split, Raghunandan got some money from the restaurant, he decided to venture out on his own. Raghunandan Kamath set up a small shop in a small space around 200-sq-ft and six tables in the Juhu Koliwada area in Mumbai. Raghunandan ventured into the unknown and stepped away from selling the usual chocolate-vanilla flavours and concentrated on original fruit flavours.

Beginning of Naturals Ice Cream

After a lot of struggle and failures, the son of a fruit vendor from Mangalore Kamaths's passion and perseverance finally paid off. In 1984 Raghunandan Kamath launched Natural Ice cream first store at Juhu, Vile Parle in Mumbai with four staffers and ten ice cream flavours.

Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath founder of naturals ice cream | Facebook/Naturalicecream

To do this, he used his father¡¯s knowledge of picking the ripest fruits. Raghunandan decided to keep his ingredients simple, fruit, sugar and milk and soon the ice creams became a rage. After a year, he stopped selling Pav Bhaji and Naturals became a full-fledged ice cream brand.

Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath founder of Naturals Ice Cream

Today, the brand has 135 outlets in different cities across the country. In the year 2020, they had a turnover of Rs 300 crore. In the 2021 KPMG survey, Naturals were listed among the top 10 brands of customer experience.

Got Inspiration from his Mother

From childhood, Kamath closely observed his mother when she used to prepare different foods. There is no quick recipe for good food. His mother used to give him enough time to prepare a tasty meal. He also did the same in the ice cream business and invented different flavours through deep research. Currently, Naturals sells plenty of unconventional flavours including Cucumber, Gajar Halwa, and others. These flavours are prepared by less popular fruits like Chikoos, Black Grapes, Jack Fruits, Litchis, etc. These flavours are not in much demand but increase the brand value. Through these flavours, people understand that Naturals has good knowledge about fruits.

Didn¡¯t have to spend a single penny on advertising

¡°I didn¡¯t have to spend a single penny on advertising. It was mostly through word of mouth,¡± Raghunandan Kamath says. Several celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar and Vivian Richards, have endorsed his ice-creams on various platforms.

Naturals Ice Cream/Facebook

Kamath says, In 1986, I was watching The Sunny Days, a TV programme anchored by cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. During the interview, Vivian Richards, the former West Indian cricket captain, mentioned that he had been to the Natural Ice Cream outlet and liked the Sapodilla (chikoo) and custard apple ice cream. It was such a thrill, such an unexpected back-thumping for us, according to Economic Times.

Naturals Ice Cream/Facebook

Raghunandan Kamath¡¯s inspiring story proves that you don¡¯t need to be an educational degree to come up with a successful business model. All you need is sheer hard work, good instincts and the ability to always learn. Kudos to the ice cream man!