Back to feeds

Meet the man who started with Rs 13,000 and built an 8000 CR Ice Cream brand. 1. RG Chandramogan was born near the firecracker town of Sivakasi. Although known for matchboxes, his life was in darkness. His father could not run a small provisional store. He even failed in his favourite subject - Mathematics. He had to do something. 🤔 2. 21-year-old Chandramogan sold off his ancestral property for 13,000 Rs and dropped out of school. He wanted to start an ice candy business. Chandramogan rented a 250 sq ft space in Royapuram, Chennai. He named the brand after the Tamil word for Sun rays - Arunodyam. In 1970, Arun was born. 3. The idea was simple ⏩ Sell stick and cup ice candies through pushcarts to college students. Arun had three employees, six tricycles and 15 pushcarts to do so. The idea became a runaway hit, and the brand completed 1.5 Lakhs of revenue in the first year. 4. The factory started churning out 10,000 candies during the day and became Chandramogan's bedroom at night. Seeing the success, he quickly expanded to ship chandlers who supply food items to vessels. By 1974, 95% of the college canteen and ship chandler market used Arun. ✅ 5. By 1981, Arun had clocked Rs 4.25 Lakh in sales. The business was great but seasonal. Chandramogan knew he had to expand to Ice creams and Dairy. In 1981, Arun Ice Creams started. 🙌 6. Chandramogan wanted to sell milk-based ice creams. But it was no easy feat! In the 1980's - Dasaprakash, Kwality Walls, and Joy used to rule South India. There were 350 ice cream brands in Tamil Nadu itself. He did something which nobody imagined. 🤯 7. He used to pack ice cream with rice and put it on trains. Then, Sales happened in ice cream parlours in rural parts of Tamil Nadu. This strategy saved him plenty of money in cold storage and distribution. By 1985, Arun Ice Cream became the largest ice cream seller by volume in Tamil Nadu. 8. By 1995, it expanded to Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, making it the largest in South India with 700 outlets. He also diversified into liquid milk marketing (Arokya). By 2001, Arun Ice Cream and Arokya had become a 100 CR business. ✅ 9. He opened premium ice cream parlours under "Ibaco", offering unlimited scoops for customers. He also placed billboards of Ice cream bookings in advance. These masterstrokes made Arun Ice Creams a 2000 CR business in 2014. In the same year, it went public and traded on NSE. 🚀 10. By 5th April 2020, Arun Ice Creams and the dairy business together (Hatsun) crossed 5000 CR in revenues. Chandramogan built 2800 Ice cream parlours, offering traditional Indian flavours in the super popular I- -balls and I - bar minis. ➡️ Today, Hatsun is the largest private-sector dairy company in India. It has a network of about 10,500 milk banks, 50,000 employees and 14 plants across 12,000 villages. It makes 60,000 litres worth of ice cream daily. Story of RG Chandramogan - The Ice Cream Man of South India. 🇮🇳