🌱 From Mango Stalls to Mumbai’s Sweet Spot
In 1954, in Mulki, Karnataka, Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath grew up helping his father sell ripe mangoes in local markets. With keen eyes and competence in selecting perfect fruit, Kamath internalized a simple motto:
“If ice creams can have fruit flavours, why not real fruit inside?”
By 1984, he boarded a second-class train to Mumbai with minimal savings—and a first-rate idea: fresh fruit ice cream made with only milk, sugar, and pulp. He opened a 200-sq-ft parlour in Juhu named Natural Ice Cream, serving a modest 12 fruit-based flavours, including sitaphal, mango, and custard apple. Pav Bhaji was served as the main dish to lure customers in early days.
🧊 The Rise of an Authentic Brand
The authentic, additive-free concept resonated fast. In the founding year, Natural turned over ₹1.5 lakh—and soon phased out Pav Bhaji entirely. By 1994, traffic jams around the tiny shop were common—and Kamath expanded to five new outlets across Mumbai neighborhoods. Source
Quality remained sacrosanct: fruits were bought fresh daily, milk went through precise heating protocols—no preservatives ever. Natural became synonymous with purity over preservatives, sticking to mango, coconut, guava, and regional flavours like jackfruit, chikoo, and tender coconut. Source
📈 Scaling with Consistency, Not Advertising
Natural Ice Cream stayed self-funded, spending less than 1% on advertising. Instead, it relied on word of mouth, authentic flavours, and subtle media endorsements—Vivian Richards once endorsed the brand publicly without pay. Customer loyalty soared. By FY2020, Natural reached ~₹300 crore in retail revenue, up from ₹115 crore in FY2015. Source
The brand had grown to 135+ outlets in over 40 Indian cities, with production centralized at a Kandivali facility churning out nearly 20 tonnes daily. Source
🎨 Innovation & Legacy
Kamath led product innovation with unconventional flavours like turmeric, cucumber, tilgul and gajar halwa—reimagined as ice cream. The brand also upgraded packaging with iconic thermocol boxes, ensuring freshness across longer distances.
His son, Srinivas Kamath, joined the business in 2009 and helped the next wave of expansion—planned “mega outlets” in new cities, with local production hubs to maintain quality standards.
In May 2024, the journey ended with passing of Kamath at age 75—yet his legacy remains deeply etched into every fresh scoop that bears the brand name.
📚 What Startups Can Learn from “Natural”
- Authenticity resonates: Real ingredients (not synthetic) builds consumer trust.
- Quality over scale: Centralized production ensured consistent experience.
- Organic growth works: Word‑of‑mouth is more potent than PR in food retail.
- Innovation tied to roots: Kamath’s fruit knowledge seeded product innovation.
- Legacy planning matters: Son’s inclusion helped institutionalize operations.
🔮 Final Scoop
Natural Ice Cream isn’t just an ice cream brand—it’s a testament to how simple ideas, rooted in authenticity, can scale into national icons. From a 200‑sq‑ft store to ₹300 crore revenue, Kamath’s journey shows that honest products, no advertising gimmicks, and customer focus build enduring brands.
In his own words:
“Start small, stay natural—and the world will come calling.”
