Salov ready to grab Indian olive oil market
When a European brand chases the Indian olive-oil market, it is chasing a genuine frontier: a vast population, rising incomes and a food culture with no olive tradition at all. What sells there is not what a Mediterranean shopper would expect. Here is the real picture.
India grows almost no olives, so its olive-oil market is an import story from top to bottom — and one of the most talked-about growth prospects in the trade. A huge population, a fast-expanding middle class and a wave of health-consciousness make it a prize every exporter eyes. But India is not a big version of a European market; it is a fundamentally different one, because Indian cooking and Indian kitchens ask different things of a cooking fat. Selling oil here means meeting that reality, not the Mediterranean ideal.
Why extra virgin struggles in an Indian kitchen
Here is the crux the marketing glosses over. Much Indian cooking is built on high heat — deep-frying, the sizzling tadka of spices in hot fat, long bhuna-ing of onions and masala. A delicate extra virgin, with its low smoke point and assertive grassy-peppery flavour, is simply the wrong tool for that job: heat it hard and you waste its virtues and can push it past smoking. So the oil that actually moves in volume is not extra virgin at all — it is refined ‘pure’ olive oil and, above all, olive pomace oil, which are cheaper, neutral-tasting and stable at frying temperatures. It fits the pan.
The pomace point nobody advertises
This is the buying trap worth knowing. A great deal of what is sold and consumed as ‘olive oil’ in India is olive pomace oil — the lowest grade, solvent-extracted from the paste left after pressing and then refined. It is heavily marketed for Indian cooking precisely because it tolerates heat and costs less, and there is nothing illegal about it. But a shopper who thinks ‘olive oil equals healthy extra virgin’ is often buying something quite different. If you want the fresh, unrefined, polyphenol-rich oil the health headlines describe, you must specifically buy extra virgin — and then use it raw, not in the frying pan.
Health sells, but read the grade
Olive oil entered India largely on a health ticket, pitched as a heart-friendly upgrade on traditional fats. There is real substance to that for genuine extra virgin used raw — but the story gets muddled when the bottle in the trolley is refined or pomace oil bought for deep-frying. The honest position: extra virgin, used cold on salads, breads and finished dishes, is where the celebrated benefits live; refined and pomace grades are neutral cooking fats, no more magical than any other. Match the grade to the use and the health claim to the grade.
| Grade | Suits Indian cooking? | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Extra virgin | Raw use only; poor for high heat | Fresh unrefined juice, full flavour, health benefits |
| ‘Pure’ / refined | Yes, for general cooking | Refined oil with a little virgin; neutral |
| Pomace | Yes, for deep-frying; big seller | Solvent-extracted, refined; cheapest grade |
Buying olive oil well in India
- For health and flavour, buy extra virgin and use it raw — not for tadka or frying.
- For high-heat cooking, refined ‘pure’ or pomace oil is honest, cheaper and better suited.
- Do not assume ‘olive oil’ means extra virgin — read the grade; much sold is pomace.
- Back any extra-virgin claim with a date and dark bottle; it has travelled a long way.
Olive oil in India: common questions
Does India produce olive oil?
Almost none. The market is essentially all imported, which is why it is such a sought-after prospect for exporters.
Why is extra virgin not ideal for Indian cooking?
Its low smoke point and strong flavour suit raw use, not the high-heat frying and tadka that much Indian cooking relies on.
What kind of olive oil sells most in India?
Refined ‘pure’ olive oil and especially olive pomace oil, because they are cheaper, neutral and stable at frying temperatures.
Is pomace oil the same as extra virgin?
No. Pomace is the lowest grade, solvent-extracted and refined. Much ‘olive oil’ sold in India is pomace, not the fresh extra virgin health articles describe.
How should I use extra virgin in an Indian kitchen?
Raw or barely warmed — drizzled on salads, breads and finished dishes — where its flavour and benefits survive, rather than in hot frying.
The health halo around olive oil does not automatically sit on the bottle in an Indian trolley. Much of what sells as ‘olive oil’ in India is refined or pomace grade, pushed hard for frying because it takes the heat and costs less — perfectly legal, but not the fresh, unrefined oil the wellness headlines mean. If you want those benefits, buy extra virgin on purpose and keep it off the hot tawa; use it raw. For your tadka and deep-frying, a cheaper refined oil is the honest, better tool.
Drawn from Indian olive-oil market patterns and International Olive Council grade definitions.