Remembering the Ice Cream Man: Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath In 1984, he opened his first Naturals Ice Cream store in Mumbai's Juhu with just four staff and 10 flavors

Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath, whose unwavering commitment revolutionized the ice cream industry of India, passed away on May 18, following a brief illness at the age of 75. However, his remarkable legacy will continue to inspire us.

Kamath's entrepreneurial journey began over 40 years ago with a simple yet revolutionary question: "If ice cream can have fruit flavors, why can't it have real fruits instead?"

Kamath's father was a mango vendor in Mangalore, Karnataka. He helped his father pluck and store mangoes and this experience gave him a deep knowledge of fruits and the techniques of storing them, which led him to establish a fresh fruit ice cream company with the commitment of producing ice cream without adding any artificial preservatives or stabilizers.

In 1984, he opened his first Naturals Ice Cream store in Mumbai's Juhu with just four staff and 10 flavors. His commitment and vision for using quality and natural ingredients in his product quickly gained recognition and by 1994, Naturals became the 'Ice Cream of Juhu Scheme.'

In order to attract customers initially, Kamath started selling Pavbhaji and offered ice cream as a token and the rest is history. Under his leadership, Naturals expanded from a single outlet to over 100 stores across 11 states of India, achieving a retail turnover of Rs 300 crore in 2020. Relying mainly on word of mouth, Naturals spent less than 1 per cent of its sales revenue on advertising.

He is survived by his wife and two sons, including Siddhant, the director of Naturals.