Olive oil body to focus on India

India, a nation of over one billion people, consumes just 2,500 tonnes of olive oil per year. This dismal fact has now woken up International Olive Council.

After realising the potential of Indian market, the Madrid-based international body representing olive oil producers, said it has plans to launch marketing campaigns in India and China to promote the consumption of olive oil in the two emerging markets.

The council will launch the promotional campaign in India in September and in China next year, its president Habib Essid told a news conference in Madrid.

In India, olive oil is used mostly for manufacturing medicines and cosmetics and consumption remains very small.

Essid said a potential to greatly increase exports of the product to India, an increasingly affluent country, existed. "There are 200 million Indians who are potential buyers of olive oil," he said.

Consumption of olive oil is on the rise around the world because of its reputation as a key part of a healthy Mediterranean diet. Some 3 million tonnes of olive oil was produced during the 2006-07 season, according to the International Olive Council.

Spain is the world's biggest producer of olive oil with a production of 1.1 million tonne in 2006-07.

Italy is the world's second-biggest producer with 650,000 tonne, followed by Greece with 450,000 tonne. Syria, Tunisia and Turkey each produce about 1,50,000 tonne of olive oil per season.