RS Kamath: The ice cream man of India is no more

RS Kamath was 75. He died on Friday night (17 May) after a brief illness.

Kamath was born in Mulki (near Mangalore). He moved to Mumbai in 1984 and opened the first ice cream parlour with six staff members and 12 flavours in the Mumbai suburbs. The demand grew and Kamath opened five more outlets in 1994. Currently, Natural has more than 165 outlets across 15 cities; and the brand has grown to 125 flavours.

Other than industry leaders, celebrities like Javed Akhtar shared condolences on social media. Akthar said, “The ice cream man of India - Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath is the founder of Natural Icecream. I am a serious loyalist of this brand. It has always added a cool sweetness in life. Hope his inheritors will carry the brand forward."

Atul Khatri, comic and writer said, "I knew him (Kamath) since 1984. Many people don't know that initially they used to sell the best Pav Bhaji in their small Juhu outlet. He started his career from Gokul IceCream in Santacruz and then started Naturals on his own. A pioneer."

Natural's outlets have been the primary distribution channel to its ice cream packaging business. The outlets provide a convenient and accessible platform for customers to buy ice cream and other related products. Natural offered diverse ice cream brands and packaging options.

As compared to other outlets which frequently use strategic merchandising strategies to promote ice cream items, such as eye-catching displays, signs, and special prices, Natural was low ley and low profile; and as a company spent less than 1% of its revenue on advertising.

Natural Icecream has been our team's favourite brand (especially during closing). Personally, I love their tender coconut, sitaphal, chikoo flavours. A delicious Made in India brand.