Vadilal Gandhi: From Selling Fountain Soda to a Rs 650 Crore Ice Cream Empire

[JANASENA]

Vadilal, an ice cream that had humble beginnings in Gujarat in 1907 — even before India attained independence, is a well-known brand today all across the country.

Having begun making ice creams using the traditional Kothi method, in which a hand-operated machine was used to churn milk, ice and salt, the company today offers their customers over 200 different flavours of ice cream made at their state-of-the-art manufacturing units.

The Better India caught up with Kalpit Gandhi, a fifth-generation entrepreneur of the family, who takes us through the rich legacy of Vadilal.

Handmade With Love

A brand with a legacy of over 100 years.

In 1907, Vadilal Gandhi, a resident of Ahmedabad founded the eponymous brand. He started by selling soda and gradually added ice cream as well. It was this small but fast-growing business that Ranchod Lal Gandhi, Vadilal Gandhi’s son, inherited.

It was under Ranchod Lal Gandhi’s leadership that Vadilal started to focus more on ice creams. Vadilal opened its first ice cream outlet in 1926. In the same year for the very first time, an ice cream making machine was imported from Germany. By the time of India’s independence, the company had opened four outlets across the city. In the early ’70s, when Ramchandra and Laxman Gandhi, sons of Ranchod Lal Gandhi, also joined the business, Vadilal had grown to 10 outlets in Ahmedabad.

Vadilal always seems to have a warm and unique relationship with its customers. A company that could always place its fingers on the pulse of the consumers, one of its USP’s was that all their ice creams were 100 per cent vegetarian and were advertised as being fit for consumption even during religious fasting periods.

Having established its brand in Gujarat the company started looking for ways to expand into other states, and in 1985 started its expansion. By the 1990s the fourth generation of the Gandhi family had joined the business. This included the three sons of Ramchandra Gandhi, Virendra, Rajesh and Shailesh Gandhi and Laxman Gandhi’s son Devanshu Gandhi.

In 1990 the company was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) under the name Vadilal Industries Ltd. In the same year, a split in the family resulted in two names getting listed on the BSE. Having clocked a revenue of Rs 650 cores in financial year 2019-20, the company continues to be positive of a larger revenue amount this financial year.

A ‘Green’ Ice Cream Brand

Using innovative memes to market the ice creams.

Kalpit Gandhi, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company has perhaps grown up hearing stories of the brand’s expansion and challenges. From a company that wanted to grow outside Gujarat, today Vadilal has a flourishing exports business.