‘Join the olive oil revolution’ — this is the message spread across outdoor hoardings in Mumbai. The category has got a fresh boost with healthy ad spends, courtesy Interprofessional Olive Oil from Spain, which is the professional body representing the olive oil industry in Spain. It has marked an investment of €5 million in India and South East Asia for the next three years.

The apex body is supported by the Spanish Olive Oil Exporters Association (ASOLIVA) and has appointed Publicis Capital as its advertising agency.

Ashutosh Sawhney, Executive Vice-President, Publicis Capital, said, “We have decided to unleash the campaign in the top eight metros. The purpose is to change the perception that while olive oil is healthy, it is not tasty enough for the Indian palate or cooking. Our mandate is to change this perception of olive oil with respect to Indian consumers.”

Publicis Capital has been given the mandate to create a 360 degree campaign for India and Indonesia.

Rafael Pico Lapuente, General Manager of ASOLIVA, said, “We want to globalise the olive oil culture and have to keep identifying high potential markets. With this objective, we have identified India as the market to invest in for 2013-14.”

The Rs 500-crore branded olive oil category in India has been facing slow growth, due to high prices and costly imports. The depreciating rupee has taken its toll with Indian consumers not to keen to pay a hefty premium on brands such as Figaro and Borges, which are imported from Spain.

“Depreciation of the rupee has slowed down the category growth last year, but we feel the Indian market has a huge long-term potential and should bounce back this year. We have great expectations from this market, and we have seen similar growths in China, where the category has now crossed 50,000 tonnes and is still growing. We strongly believe that India will get there in the next few years,” added Lapuente.

According to data available with ASOLIVA, last year the olive oil category crossed 11,000 tonnes in terms of total exports to India. Spain contributed 62 per cent to the 11,000 tonnes. Overall, Spain and Italy corner 90 per cent exports to India.

Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil and contributes about 50 per cent of the world’s production.

purvita@thehindu.co.in

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