He once sold firecrackers and raincoats, then built an ice cream business. The scale of the two businesses and industries was polar opposite, but Prabhakar Kamath made it happen and made it big. It all began as a small business venture, which eventually grew into a large-scale enterprise and is one of South India's most popular ice cream brands: Ideal Ice Cream.

Born in Karnataka, Kamath faced major responsibilities after losing his parents at the age of 20. He started selling tailoring materials, raincoats, and seasonal firecrackers to support his family. However, he always knew that he wanted to build a business that could generate demand throughout the year.

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He went on to start an ice cream business, but his journey took an unexpected turn when he failed to find a supplier. According to the official website of Ideal Ice CreamPrabhakar set out to make the best ice cream possible! He taught himself the art of ice cream making and conducted experiments at home. The initial tasters/testers of his “cool” creations were his enthusiastic neighbors.

Three months after he began his ice cream work, he launched Ideal's at Market Road, Mangaluru, on May 1, 1975.

A venture that began with 14 flavours. Over the next two years, the ice cream he manufactured became so popular among Mangaloreans that people waited in long queues for it. In 2001, Ideal Ice Cream ventured into retail distribution to reach people outside Mangaluru. Currently, the retail distribution network spans Karnataka, North Kerala, and South Goa, with the brand present in more than 8,500 retail outlets in these regions.

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The brand's product portfolio contains more than 150 SKUs, including candy sticks, flavored ice creams, sundaes, cones, frozen desserts, real fruit-based ice creams and premium ice creams. Their ice creams have won 27 awards in the Great India Ice Cream contest organized by DuPont and IDA. These include 5 Best in Class, 8 Gold, 9 Silver and 5 Bronze awards.

This speaks volumes about the quality and taste that are being offered to the customers. The company is currently worth Rs 150 crore.