Natural Ice Cream
Product typeIce cream
OwnerKamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams Pvt. Ltd.
CountryIndia
Introduced1984[1]
MarketsIndia
TaglineTaste the Original
Websitenaturalicecreams.in

Natural Ice Cream, d/b/a Naturals, is an Indian ice cream brand owned by Mumbai-based Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams Pvt. Ltd.[2] It was founded by Raghunandan Srinivas Kamath who opened its first store at Juhu in Mumbai in 1984.[3][4][5][6]

The chain recorded a retail turnover of ₹300 crore in the financial year 2020, up from ₹115 crores in 2015.[3][7] The ice creams are manufactured by Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams and retailed by its subsidiary company Kamaths Natural Retail Pvt. Ltd.[8]

The 2017 rebranding effort, which established the ‘Taste the Original’ tagline, was aimed at setting it apart from similar named brands popping up.[9]

Market

As of April 2022, the chain has 18 directly-owned stores and 119 franchised stores across 11 states.[10] The stores are present in the states of Maharashtra, West Bengal,[11] Karnataka, Goa,[12] Telangana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,[13] Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,[14] Rajasthan[12] and Delhi NCR.[15][16][17][18]

Production and trade

The brand's only production facility is situated in Charkop, a suburb of Kandivali in Mumbai, India.[18] The company supplies to its own stores every day.[11] The company spends less than 1% of its sales revenues on advertising, relying mainly on word of mouth to attain revenues.[12]

On completing two years, the brand launched an experiential concept store in Juhu named Naturals Now, which serves freshly churned ice cream straight out of the churner.[19]

Products

Starting with around 10 flavours, today Natural Ice Cream has 125 flavour options, of which 20 are offered throughout the year.[20] The set of flavours change according to seasons. Some of the seasonal flavors include litchi, fig, jackfruit, Muskmelon and watermelon.[21] A custard apple flavor is also purveyed by the brand.[21][22][23]

Awards and recognition

In 2006, the brand received Corporation Bank's National SME's Excellence Award in the Food and Agro Industry.[24] In February 2009, a Natural Ice Cream store located in the Juhu Ville Parle Development scheme placed in the Limca Book of Records for the largest ice cream slab, which weighed 3,000 kilograms.[25] The brand was awarded as Best in Customer Service - Regional Retailer Of the Year in 2013.[26][27] In 2014 the brand received the gold medal for most innovative ice cream flavour (cucumber) in the Great Indian Ice Cream Contest.[28] In 2016, Natural Ice Cream was awarded for home grown concept in food service by Coca-Cola Golden Spoon Awards[29] and also received IMAGES Most Admired Food Service Chain of the Year in the Ice-cream & Dessert Parlours category.[30] It was named as India’s Top 10 brand for customer experience in a KPMG survey.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Divekar, Aditi (22 January 2019). "Naturals Ice Cream plans expansion, steps out of its comfort zone". Business Standard.
  2. ^ "Mumbai: Natural Ice Cream Eyes UAE, Southeast Asia Entry". Daijiworld Media. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Karelia, Gopi (20 July 2021). "Naturals Ice Cream: How a Fruit Vendor's Son Built a Rs 300 Crore Empire". The Better India. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. ^ "How Raghunandan Kamath made Natural Ice Cream a 50 crore business". The Economic Times. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. ^ Aziz, Nuzhat (16 July 2008). "Today: Passion fruit". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Recipe for Success: Century and more for Kamath, natural ice cream king". FNB News.
  7. ^ Suneera Tandon (15 October 2014). "Natural to invest Rs50-75 crores to add 100 ice-cream parlours". Mint. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Rating Rationale - Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams Private Limited". CRISIL. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Natural Ice Creams looks to add another 125 stores in next five years". 16 January 2019.
  10. ^ Roy, Shobha (3 April 2022). "Naturals ice cream brand looks to expand its presence in south India". The Hindu Businessline. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  11. ^ a b "The story behind Natural Ice Cream's success". Business Today. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  12. ^ a b c "Ice-cream company Natural to open its first store in Delhi by Diwali". The Economic Times. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Successful, naturally!". The Week. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Natural Ice Cream". Zomato. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Natural ice cream to open first store in Delhi on Oct 15". The Indian Express. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Natural ice cream eyes 100 outlets, opens first store in Delhi". News18. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Food & Grocery retailer iOrderFresh inks strategic tie-up with Natural Ice Cream in Delhi NCR". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Natural Ice Cream enters Delhi, to go national". Business Standard. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  19. ^ "Agro & Food Processing, India's first News portal for food industry". Agro & Food Processing.
  20. ^ Madhok, Diksha (20 November 2014). "This ice cream company conquered mithai-loving Indians with figs and custard apples". Quartz. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  21. ^ a b Nair, Roshni (1 February 2015). "(Ice) cream of the crop". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  22. ^ "How this idea has changed Mumbai". Hindustan Times. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Raghunandan S. Kamath: The ice-cream man". One India One People Foundation. March 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  24. ^ "National SMEs Excellence Awards"[permanent dead link]. Naturalicecreams.in.
  25. ^ "Natural Ice Cream Enters Limca Book of Records". Daijiworld Media. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  26. ^ "Retailer Customer Service Awards 2013". Retrieved 11 May 2016.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ "Recognising the best in Customer Service". Indian Retailer. June 2013.
  28. ^ "Here's the scoop on some exciting new ice-cream flavours". Mid-Day. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  29. ^ Indiaretailing Bureau (25 February 2016). "Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards 2016". Indiaretailing.com. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  30. ^ "Awards". India Food Forum. Retrieved 11 May 2016.

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