This ice cream company Naturals Disrupted is a 40-year-old family business that makes ₹300 crore every year and has disrupted India’s ₹30,000 crore ice cream market. But here’s a kicker—Naturals has done this without raising a single rupee of funding, by spending less than 1% on marketing, and by being a profitable danda since day one.
In a market dominated by giants like Wadilal, Mother Dairy, and Quality Walls, this company has created a cult-like following by bringing a revolution of fruit ice creams in India. But how did the son of a fruit vendor create a generational company in such a competitive space?
In this blog, we break down the strategies and insights behind Naturals Ice Cream’s success.
The Humble Beginnings of Naturals Disrupted
This story goes back to the 1980s and begins with Raghunandan Srinivas Kamat, a man who quite literally came from nothing. Born in a small village called Muli in Karnataka, his father was a fruit vendor. He had no fancy education. In fact, he dropped out of school and started working at a young age in his brother’s small eatery business, a job that gave him his first tiny exposure to the world of food businesses.
In 1984, he opened the first Naturals store in Juhu, Mumbai—a 200 ft² shop that would go on to become a legendary Indian brand with roughly 150 stores across the country.
Insight 1: Identifying the White Space in the Ice Cream Market
India in the 1980s was in a very different stage—our per capita income was just $300, and we were just about to open the economy in 1991.
Even after three decades, the Naturals brand has stayed relevant. Why? Because they identified the perfect white space in the market. For the last 40 years, the Indian ice cream market has been dominated by four brands, with Amul alone holding 40% market share.
Aras Kamat saw one key gap: There were only three types of ice creams being sold—Western flavors in cones and cups, basic Indian varieties, and artificial fruit flavors. No one was using real fruits to make ice cream.
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Naturals’ Unique Proposition: Real Fruit, Real Ingredients
That’s exactly what Aras Kamat wanted to do. He introduced high-quality ice creams made not with artificial flavors, but with real fruits—including sitaphal, coconut, and muskmelon, alongside the usual mango and others.
Naturals used just three ingredients: milk, sugar, and fruit—no artificial colors or preservatives. That’s why their ice creams lack the bright colors you see in commercial brands. This was a bold move, especially since very few brands were doing artisanal ice cream, except maybe brands like Absur and Giani’s.
What’s the difference between ice cream and frozen dessert?
As per FSSAI, if a product uses fat from milk sources, it’s real ice cream. If it uses vegetable fat like palm oil, it’s technically a frozen dessert. Naturals stuck to real ice cream from day one.
Insight 2: Cracking the Premium Positioning at Mid-Tier Pricing Naturals Disrupted
RS Kamat wanted to build a brand for Bharat—affordable for regular Indians. Naturals found the sweet spot in the pricing pyramid, right in the middle.
Customers were willing to pay slightly more than Amul or Mother Dairy, but not too much more—and Naturals delivered on that. This strategy paid off big time, especially as the Indian market boomed.
With an ice cream consumption of just 1.6 liters per capita (compared to 4.3L in China and 20L in the US), India has a huge runway for growth.
Naturals offered premium quality at a mid-range price, but it didn’t just stop at product quality.
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Building Trust: The Offline-First Strategy
Naturals made a smart offline-first move—betting big on physical parlors. These outlets recreated the classic ice cream parlor vibe, offering a spacious, family-friendly atmosphere where people could sample flavors and spend time.
This experience-first strategy built trust and loyalty with middle-class Indian families—something many mass brands overlooked.
Insight 3: Operational Rigidness as a Secret Weapon
Naturals’ tight control over operations became a competitive moat. When they needed rare fruits like sitaphal and jackfruit at scale, Naturals built custom machines to handle the manual processing.
Though expensive initially, this gave them full control over quality. They’ve used the same fruit suppliers and main factory for over 40 years, ensuring consistency.
Naturals also made bold choices:
- No chasing trends
- No new sizes, fancy formats, or vegan/protein hype
- Zero external funding—not a single rupee from VCs or PE firms
- No IPO plans
Naturals is a classic family business, run with long-term vision and zero dilution.
Conclusion: What Can We Learn from Naturals?
Naturals has taught us valuable lessons:
- Identify and own a white space—Naturals chose real fruit-based ice creams and stuck with it.
- Build mass-premium perception—They created high-quality, affordable products with a premium feel.
- Make bold, long-term bets—They focused on consistency, in-house control, and avoided short-term trends.
Naturals has succeeded not by being flashy but by being focused, consistent, and customer-first.
FAQs
Q1: Who founded Naturals Ice Cream?
A: Naturals was founded in 1984 by Raghunandan Srinivas Kamat in Juhu, Mumbai.
Q2: What makes Naturals Ice Cream different?
A: Naturals uses real fruits, milk, and sugar—no artificial colors, preservatives, or flavors.
Q3: Does Naturals use any external funding?
A: No, Naturals has never raised external funding. It is a family-run, bootstrapped business.
Q4: Are Naturals ice creams considered real ice cream or frozen dessert?
A: Naturals makes real ice cream as defined by FSSAI—it uses milk fat, not vegetable fat.
Q5: What pricing strategy does Naturals follow?
A: Naturals targets the middle segment—offering affordable luxury with mass-premium appeal.
Q6: Why doesn’t Naturals spend on marketing?
A: They rely on word-of-mouth, product quality, and customer experience rather than heavy ad spends.
