Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath, born in Mulki, Karnataka in 1954, was the youngest among his seven siblings.
The world of business is brimming with inspiring and motivational stories that serve as a reminder of the boundless possibilities that await. In India, the entrepreneurship sector has been a shining example, with numerous small-scale businesses transforming into colossal successes.
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Today, let’s delve into the remarkable journey of one such business that has flourished in recent years, blossoming into a 300-crore brand. This entrepreneurial success story is attributed to Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath. His company, Natural Ice Cream, now stands tall among the top ice cream brands in India.
Raghunandan Kamath’s journey was far from a fairy tale. Born into a family with a single breadwinner and six siblings, his path was fraught with challenges. His father was a fruit seller. He struggled to concentrate on his studies and faced the setback of failing his board exams not once, but twice.
But he indeed had a talent that was to select the ripe mangoes from the bad ones and this is what led him to achieve to establish his dream business. Let’s learn about his inspiring journey.
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Natural Ice Cream: The founder’s journey
Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath, born in Mulki, Karnataka in 1954, was the youngest among his seven siblings. His upbringing was in a modest environment, with his father earning a meager income as a small fruit vendor, struggling to provide for his large family. While Kamath couldn’t complete his studies, he was more interested in one of his business ideas as he wanted to infuse real fruits with ice cream. Following his love for the idea, Kamath left his father’s business one day and caught a train to Bombay.
He began by working at his brother’s South Indian restaurant and used to earn very little which was barely enough for a 12×12 chawl in Mumbai. He wanted to introduce more culinary options to the customers at the restaurant and this is when he tried pitching his idea of creating ice creams with real fruits instead of flavours to his brother.
However, upon facing rejection, he left the eatery and started his own little shop at a modest 200-square-foot store. In 1984, he opened his first little shop with just 4 employees and had 10 different ice creams.
After struggling for a few years, he finally turned his restaurant into a full-fledged ice cream parlour. According to the company website, the demand for his ice cream grew so much that it also caused traffic jams in the by-lanes of Juhu.
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Upon success, he opened 5 more outlets, further expanding his business to other cities. His company expanded exponentially, turning out to become one of the most popular and biggest ice cream brands in the country. At present, Natural Ice Cream stands as a favourite among Indians, thanks to its practice of using fresh and natural ingredients along with various fruit flavours.
Speaking about the business earnings, he reportedly did around Rs 1.5 lakh of sales in 1984. His business also recorded a retail turnover of Rs 300 crore into FY 2020 and was also ranked among India’s top 10 brands for customer satisfaction in 2013, as per a report in Zee Business. Presently operating across over 100 Indian cities and having lakhs of customers, Natural Ice Cream is an evident proof of how Raghunandan Kamath’s unwavering vision and relentless dedication turned his dream into reality.
