Edible oil, sugar consumption falls as fitness campaigns catch on
In India, the per capita annual consumption of edible oil is 18 kg and that of sugar is around 20 kg, trade data shows.
Consumption of edible oil and sugar in last 2-3 months has dipped due to various factors including weather, prices and shifting preferences, according to industry players. The drop also coincides with a government campaign to reduce consumption of edible oil, sugar and salt.
The campaign uses an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cut use of cooking oil to stay fit.
In India, the per capita annual consumption of edible oil is 18 kg and that of sugar is around 20 kg, trade data shows.
The cooking oil import, which also has a direct co-relation with domestic demand, in May had dropped 22 per cent to 11.78 lakh tonnes (lt) and in April too the fall was 32 per cent from year-ago level.
Similarly, industry sources said that there was 1 lt sugar unsold during June from the government allocated 23 lt quota for the month, despite lower allocation against 25.5 lt year-ago. Officials, however, said that the final sales data for June will be available only after July 20, based on the monthly details filed by mills.
“During summer, cooking oil consumption is normally lower compared to other periods and as temperatures rose from February, the consumption too started to decline. Some companies selling cooking oil at lower quantity in terms of weight in gram has also contributed to a drop in overall volume of cooking oil,” said B V Mehta, executive director of Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).
But a top executive of a leading edible oil brand, while admitting drop in sales during April-June quarter, said there are a combination of factors responsible for lower consumption.
“It may not be the sole reason, but Modi’s appeal to cut 10 per cent use of edible oil has definitely contributed to the drop in consumption, which can only be ascertained through a survey. But, there is an overall negative sentiment on consumption,” the CEO said adding in the festival months there may be rebound in rural demand due to normal monsoon helping the country to have a bumper harvest of crops.
While industry leaders are divided on the impact of Modi’s appeal on obesity management by reducing intake of cooking oil by 10 per cent, all of them agreed that people may have cut expenditure on these two items as well as other FMCG products.
However, some experts said that Modi’s appeal has definitely some impact and it has come at a time when more and more people are becoming health conscious. The experts also said that packing edible oil in higher temperature is not a new issue and has been going on for quite some time as it helps companies to sell less quantity (in gram) even if it is of 1 litre, due to nature of the cooking oil.
The agriculture ministry first aired some jingles though FM radio channels in March this year appealing people to cut consumption of edible oil in which Modi’s appeal was included. Later, FSSAI started a campaign by including sugar and salt in the appeal to stay fit.
Total allocation of sugar quota by the government for domestic sales during October 2024-July 2025 reached 229.5 lt, which is 6 per cent lower from 245 lt in the year-ago period. India had record 290 lt sugar consumption in 2024-25 season (October-September).
Industry experts said that last season witnessed very high consumption of sugar due to general elections and they attributed the fall in sugar consumption to tighter curbs on the cross border movement to Bangladesh in the current season. Some experts also said that there has been a shift towards jaggery products from refined sugar due to social media influence.
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Published on July 6, 2025
