Naturals Ice Cream founder Raghunandan Kamath passed away following a brief illness. Born to a mango vendor in a village in Mangaluru, Kamath went on to establish Naturals, an ice cream parlour estimated to be worth Rs 400 crore today.
"Our thoughts on the sad demise of our patron and founder of Naturals Ice Cream, Late Raghunandan Kamath. Indeed a very sad and unfortunate day for us," the company said.
Mr Kamath grew up helping his father in selling mangoes in a village Karnataka's Mangaluru. This was when he learned the art of picking the ripe fruit, plucking it, sorting it, and preserving it.
As the legend goes, a young 14-year-old Kamath boarded a train from Mangaluru and came to Mumbai (then Bombay).
After working at his brother’s restaurant, Kamath had an idea — if ice creams have fruit flavours, why can’t they have real fruits. He decided to fill this void in the market. But unsure of whether customers would come, he began his business with serving pav-bhaji as the main dish and the ice cream as an add on.
His first ice cream parlour was launched in 1984 in Juhu, with the initial menu featuring around 12 flavours, each being a testament to the knowledge he acquired during the time he assisted his father in Mangaluru.
The demand kept growing and he opened five more outlets in 1994. Currently, it has over 165 outlets across 15 cities.
His story was captured expansively in ‘Intelligent Fanatics of India’, a book co-authored by Mumbai-based journalist Pooja Bhula.
Inspired by his mother's techniques, Kamath also developed innovative machines to streamline production and ensure consistency, notes the company website.
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