Studying pharmacy and living away from home, Suhas B Shetty always longed to return to his roots.

Once he completed his degree, he decided to move back to his hometown, Nellore. “I come from a humble background and setting up my own pharma company or outlet in Nellore was not a possibility,” he says.

Looking for work opportunities, he realised the abundant availability of organic milk in the area. Inspired by his grandfather, who used to make ice creams, Suhas decided to use the plentiful and inexpensive organic milk to make organic ice creams.

Using his grandfather’s recipe, he decided to start a small shop in Nellore. “At first, I made 45 litres of ice cream and within two days of opening the store, the ice cream was sold out… I had to close my shop for one day and increase production. On the fifth day, we came with double the stock and have never looked back since,” shares Suhas B Shetty, the founder of Iceberg Organic Icecreams.

In just three years, Suhas established over 15 stores across South India and quickly ventured into the B2B business by franchising his ice cream across the state. While his business was becoming successful, Suhas wanted to try something different.

“I thought, ‘Why not target the market for organic ice cream?’ Considering the popularity of organic products like biscuits, namkeen, and even agarbatti, I saw an opportunity. There are even brands for organic smokes, so why not ice cream?” he recalls.

In 2017, Suhas decided to go 100 percent organic. From using organic cow milk to butter, everything in his ice cream is organic. “We replace sugar with mishri, a natural sweetener, in our ice cream. We use organic butter and vegetable-extracted colours. Importantly, we do not use any preservatives or stabilisers in our products,” he explains.

To maintain the natural quality, Suhas’ company uses edible gum, also known as gondh, as a preservative. They have developed a process to integrate gondh into their ice cream.

Besides producing 100 percent natural and organic icecreams, the company also follows sustainable practices in their production process. “Both of my factories in Nellore are powered by solar energy. It cost me about Rs 45 lakh. Currently, my factories run on 80 percent solar energy,” he says.