Netrapal Sharma is a second generation entrepreneur. His dad shifted base from Rajasthan to Maharashtra in the seventies – the usual migration-employment story. Couldn’t find a job in Bombay, so he roamed the streets with a kulfi-gaadi. Fate took him from Bombay to the small town of Ichalkaranji. Remembering his good ole days in Bombay, he started selling ice-cream again – this time under a brand – Old Bombay. With times, Bombay transformed to Mumbai – and so did the brand. It’s called Old Mumbai now.
Netrapal started his career with the merchant navy. A typical Marwari boy, naukri and chokri happened at the same time. He got married when he was 18 – and thanks to that – even though Netrapal is a relatively young 37 circa 2022, his elder son has already finished grade 10. Netra got bored of the navy in 2007 – and joined his dad’s ice-cream setup. Netra’s exposure in the shipping world had broadened his vision – and he started looking beyond Ichalkaranji. His first task was to equip himself with ice-cream manufacturing skills. He started this by enrolling at courses at CFTRI, Mysore. That journey still continues today – though his training grounds are Italian factories now.
The role model for the ice-cream has been Natural’s of Juhu. The only flavouring and colouring ingredients are the fruits themselves. And the only preservative is sugar. 17% of the ice-cream is sugar. 70% is condensed milk – and the rest is fruit pulp. For milk condensation, they use a vacuum evaporator, where milk boils at 35 deg C. One of the advantages of this is that there is no caramelisation of the milk sugars, which can take away the delicate flavours of the fruit in the ice-cream. Earlier the milk evaporation was done using LPG, but nowadays steam jacketed vessels are used. Wood is used to fire the boilers nowadays – and has halved the fuel bill, compared to LPG. For improving energy efficiency, solar rooftop water heaters can be used to supply feed water to the boiler. Though condensate is used as feed, they still require about 2000 liters of make-up water a day for boiler operations. Getting feed water coming in at 50 C instead of room temperature will reduce fuel requirement significantly. They can also look at setting up a biogas plant to extract methane from fruit waste.
Dry fruits are an important ingredient in their shakes. Cashew is sourced from a factory in the Konkan. Almonds from Mumbai APMC. Raisins come from Tasgaon. They have experimented with buying fruit pulp – and have received a thumbs-down from customers. The strategy is to continue with fruit pulping themselves. A lot of care has to be taken into buying the right fruit. For most pulpers, price is the only criterion in purchase decisions. Nowadays, the fruit waste is converted to fertiliser and given to neighbouring farms. Interestingly, the seeds are crushed before this to avoid germination at the farm. They are thinking of encouraging local entrepreneurship by getting surrounding villages to invest in orchards. Some chikoo tree plantation has happened, thanks to their efforts.
The lockdown was brutal for Old Mumbai. Ice cream outlets were not considered ‘essential services’ and had to be shut down. Though in a few locations, they did manage to get a certificate that these were dairy operations. Most of the labour force is from Netrapal’s native village in Rajasthan. They stay in a hostel in the factory premises – and were taken care by the Sharma family during the lockdown. The Rajasthan boys have an interesting round robin system, where the workforce goes for vacation in batches, starting July. February to June is peak time for the business – and then all hands are on the deck.
Over the years, factory operations have grown. The factory strength is now 65. And space pangs have started happening. A 2 acre site has been purchased – and in a few years time, a new factory will come up over there. The plan is to separate out the fruit and the dairy operations. I suggested to Netrapal that he can look at a distributed manufacturing model, where milk procurement and thickening can be done by a mini factory, either at the retail shop – or in a small unit in the local industrial area. Milk accounts for 70% of the volume (and possibly 30% of the value). Add sugar to the local purchase list – and then the only ingredient that remains is pulp. So you will end up saving a lot in cold chain transport and storage costs. It will also help deliver a fresher product to the market.
Old Mumbai Icecreams is ultra popular with the Ichakaranjians – but has now spread its wings to other cities in Maharashtra. And outside Maharashtra too – they have four outlets in Hyderabad. Transport today is being done by buses that operate from Ichalkaranji to various destinations. Most of the business happens at night – as ice creams are a favourite summer post dinner dessert. Officially, most outlets close at 2300 hrs – but regular haftas enable most outlets to remain open till 0000 hrs.
Most of the expansion has been using a franchisee model. There is no fixed fee that the franchisee has to pay. But with a premium ice-cream, that sells just Rs. 20 less than Natural’s, ambience is important. There are also some super premium outlets, which are as of now, are owned by the company itself. A typical franchisee outlet requires a capex of around 15 to 20 lakh. The spend is done directly by the franchisee under the supervision of an interior designer appointed by the Old Mumbai folks. During the lockdown, a new shop template was added – the Express, which is primarily a take-away. Investment requirements are about 4-5 lakh for the Express – and area required is only 100 sq ft.
Netrapal is a health freak. Like Yours Truly, he cycles around quite a bit. He has promised to join me in a cycling trip next time he is in Pune. Btw, he has two Old Mumbai outlets here – one in Wakad and one in Kondhwa. There is also a cold storage at Katraj. Though Netrapal is very health conscious, he works in an industry that can be the next big health hazard. I suggested having a healthier version of old Mumbai – sugar-free ice-creams. The challenge is maintaining consistency – as fructose levels can vary widely in fruits. My friend, Mayur Vora, offers a honey sweetened version of ice-cream at Mapro Garden. I would prefer using banana as an added sweetener to play around with fructose levels. Another option is to use date syrup.
Becoming an old Mumbai franchisee is a tough process. Most applications are rejected outright – even ones that come from MPs and MLAs. What matters in this business is trust. And the Sharmas want references. Most of their expansion is coming from existing franchisees starting more outlets. There are high chances that if you are reading this article, that you know the author. If you do – and are interested in joining the Old Mumbai family – you know you have the right vasheela with the Sharmas. Drop me a line – and would be happy to connect.