1/9/12

How Raghunandan Kamath made Natural Ice Cream a 50 crore business

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9 JAN, 2012, 09.07AM IST, AMIT SHANBAUG,ET BUREAU

How Raghunandan Kamath made Natural Ice Cream a 50 crore bu

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We were probably the first to mass produce natural ice cream in the traditional way. We also took the lead in experimenting with unc and turmeric. We were possibly the first to have an international celebrity like cricketer Vivian Richards to endorse the brand on That's a lot of firsts for the son of a fruit vendor from Mangalore. It just goes to show how passion and perseverance pay.

Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams, better known as Natural Ice Cream, has come a long way from the time I started it nearly 30 ye began in school when I assisted my father in selling fruit and developed a fondness for fruit. I wasn't a bright student-I barely manage Kannada-medium school in Mumbai. So when I turned 19, my family decided that I would help out my elder brother, who operated a

It was here that I first thought of serving something unique as a dessert-a blend of fruits in ice cream. Being the youngest in the turned down, and so was this one. But I was convinced about the concept, so when I parted ways with my brother 10 years later, I d parlour. The timing was not entirely favourable.

I had just got married and did not have the money to start a business. But my wife Annapurna supported and encouraged me, so friends and relatives. With this I bought and refurbished a 250-sq-ft outlet at Juhu, where most of the Bollywood and small-screen outlet of Natural Ice Cream was launched in 1984.

There were no ice-cream outlets in those days and, unlike today, ordinary people didn't go out to have desserts; only the rich did. T decided to serve pav bhaji and follow it up with my special ice creams. The place was very small and most of the cooking had managed the tedious task of grinding the masalas and making the curry. We also started blending fruits such as mangoes, custard The customers lapped it up.

A year later, I stopped serving pav bhaji and dedicated all the resources to the ice cream business. The turnover in the first year wa not lose hope. I employed five or six people to make ice cream in the traditional way and these staffers doubled as waiters. What w of-mouth publicity.

Within two years, we had the top movie and television celebrities as our clients

In 1986, I was watching The Sunny Days, a TV programme anchored by cri interview, Vivian Richards, the former West Indian cricket captain, mentioned Cream outlet and liked the Sapodilla (chikoo) and custard apple ice cre unexpected back-thumping for us.

However, we have faced enough challenges too. In 1994, a key staff member cream unit in the same area.

I realised that unless I expanded and made my brand's presence felt, my busin around Rs 65 lakh from Saraswat Bank and bought a 5,000-sq-ft space a Mumbai.
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1/9/12

How Raghunandan Kamath made Natural Ice Cream a 50 crore business

This acted as my factory unit. I then employed 15-20 people and started mak also decided to distribute five franchises in Mumbai. My turnover in 1994 gre crore.

Today, we have 100 outlets across the country and serve around 100 varieties constantly seeking new recipes, and many of them are developed in my suggested by our customers.

To cater to the growing demand, in 2000, we shifted our factory base to a 25,000-sq-ft space at Charkop, where around 65 pe meant that we've had to introduce latest technology in the manufacturing process, instead of going the manual way. In the near Siddhant, who are studying, will join the family business.

In the next two years we plan to achieve a target of Rs 100 crore and increase the number of outlets to 250. In the second phase, w overseas market, primarily Singapore and Dubai, keeping the Indian population in mind. The future sure looks sweet.

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