The “New” Olive Oil Market in China
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The Boom of the Olive Oil Market in China: From Kitchen Niche to Health Status Symbol
Mini-story (Olivier VEROT)
In 2015, olive oil was a luxury gift item in China — imported, expensive, and used mainly by foodies or expats.
In 2025, it’s a daily kitchen staple in millions of middle-class households.
It’s also a health symbol, a giftable product, and an e-commerce best-seller.
Why? Because olive oil in China isn’t just food — it’s health, taste, and lifestyle aspiration all in one bottle.
1️⃣ What’s Driving the Boom?
✅ Health Awareness on the Rise
→ Post-COVID, Chinese consumers are obsessed with heart health, “clean eating”, and gut wellness.
→ Olive oil is positioned as a healthy fat, an anti-aging agent, and even a beauty supplement.
✅ Shift from Frying to “Healthy Cooking”
→ More families are experimenting with salads, pasta, and Mediterranean dishes at home.
→ Douyin & Xiaohongshu are full of “olive oil hacks” — from cooking to skincare.
✅ Gift Economy & Packaging Culture
→ Olive oil is now a luxury food gift, like wine or tea.
→ Beautiful glass bottles, storytelling about origin, heritage = big sales during Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival.
✅ Premiumization of Home Cooking
→ Middle-class consumers want “better ingredients” — not just to eat, but to show they care.
→ Olive oil = sophistication + health in one product.
✅ Cross-Border E-commerce Expansion
→ High-quality European, Australian, Japanese brands can now sell direct-to-consumer via Tmall Global, JD Worldwide, WeChat stores.
2️⃣ What’s Trending in 2025?
🌿 Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) Domination
→ Chinese consumers prefer high-end, cold-pressed, traceable products
→ “Low acid”, “early harvest”, and “organic” = top keywords
📦 Gift-box Editions & Collabs
→ Olive oil + wellness product bundles (e.g., honey, vinegar, supplements)
→ Co-branded with chefs, influencers, even luxury brands
📱 Douyin Cooking Influencers + Live Commerce
→ Olive oil is a visual product — pouring, sizzling, dressing
→ KOLs do live demos with recipes → instant trust, instant conversion
💬 RED (Xiaohongshu) Lifestyle Reviews
→ “Why I switched from soybean oil to olive oil”
→ “Olive oil for glowing skin”
→ Reviews written like personal stories → high engagement
🌍 Storytelling Around Origin
→ Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Australia, Tunisia → consumers care
→ Olive farms, family stories, Mediterranean diet = aspirational narratives
3️⃣ Where the Opportunity Is
✅ Premium Imported Brands
→ Great time to enter or scale, especially via cross-border platforms
→ Highlight quality, origin, and health benefits
✅ Chinese Domestic Producers (Yes, they exist)
→ Yunnan and Gansu growing olives → domestic brands will rise with nationalist pride
→ Room for collabs or JV with foreign expertise
✅ Beauty & Wellness Crossover Products
→ Olive oil used in skincare, haircare, supplements
→ Brands can develop multi-use products that blend food + beauty
✅ Content Marketing in Health & Food Channels
→ Position olive oil as part of daily wellness routine
→ Not just ingredient → lifestyle enhancer
✅ Offline + Online Integration
→ Olive oil tasting events in supermarkets, boutiques, hotels
→ Convert offline curiosity into online subscription or DTC repeat sales
4️⃣ What Brands Must Get Right
✅ Tell the story — don’t just sell the oil
→ Region, method, family, diet philosophy → it matters
✅ Educate → Chinese consumers love to learn → recipes, health facts, how to choose
✅ Design matters → Label + bottle = gift-worthiness
✅ Stay native → Speak their language, via WeChat, RED, and Douyin content
✅ Bundle → Olive oil + recipe kit + chef access = irresistible
✅ Price strategically → not cheap = not trusted → position as value-rich, not discount
5️⃣ Conclusion – The New Mindset
Olive oil is not just an ingredient in China — it’s the avocado toast of the West.
It signals health, taste, middle-class rise, and modern identity.
👉 If you’re an olive oil brand — or adjacent wellness/lifestyle product — you are not in a “commodity” game.
You are in a narrative game.
You are in a content + e-commerce game.
You are in a trust-building funnel game.
👉 “Those who tell the best story — and pour it beautifully — will own this category.”
Since 2013, China is considered as the greatest importer of olive oil and this market is now undergoing a 100% growth annually. According to the International Olive Oil Council, China is the one of the biggest markets to grow in the oil industry.
The China’s olive oil market
Because the country has almost 10 million square kilometers of land and over 1.5 billion people who are paying more and more attention to their food consumption, China is now a huge market for olive oil. The olive industry is still growing with an increase of nearly 30% per year. Due to a great nutrition value, olive oil is more and more welcomed in China. More than 250 olive oil brands are present on the Chinese market and about 100% of the imports come from Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal or Argentina. The main consumption cities of olive are the big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai or other second-tier cities. Chinese’s disposable income is increasing, the Chinese middle class is also increasing health awareness and Chinese people standard of living in improving. Consequently, more and more Chinese start to appreciate the olive oil and start to buy it.
According to statistics from China Customs, the country imported approximately 12.25 million tons of olive oil last year. In addition, the quantity and the value of olive oil imported from Italy and Spain reached 60%. Consequently, China is one of the largest importers of Spanish olive oil, and Spain is the major exporter to China, sharing 57.5% of the market. Even if China belongs to the semi-tropical climate and that it has found some adaptable regions for growing olives, the country’s geographical environment is unsuitable for mass production. Moreover, there is a serious lack of olive planting knowledge restricting the development of mass olive planting in China.
How is the olive oil used in China ?
In China, olive oil is also considered as a healthy oil that can help consumers to reduce cholesterol, prevent cardiovascular disease, delay senility or prevent cancer. Moreover, Chinese consumers are more and more paying attention to their health, and foreign products are trusted for containing better ingredients and being healthier. Furthermore, in China, imported food products are often used as gift. A decent gift is a must to show how respectful you are to the person who will receive the gift. For example, during the Chinese New Year, olive oil sales increased and 60% of the sales are for gift purpose.
How to promote your olive oil in China ?
The rapid growth of the olive oil market has attracted foreign olive oil producers. Indeed, many international brands, such as Sol Dela Mancha, Colavita or Oro Tikalo, have already taken a large market share. Consequently, a good branding strategy is essential to dominate China olive oil market.
Increase your visibility on Baidu
SEO on Baidu is the key for the visibility of your olive oil brand in China. Baidu is the most used search engine in China, ranks 5th among the most visited sites in the world and currently has more than 800 million web pages. Baidu now offers a wide range of services, such as web searches, image search, music, forums or a Q&A service. SEO on Baidu requires several steps, which may be different from what needs to be done on Google. The notions of trust and notoriety remain essential for companies wishing to enter the Chinese market and be visible on Baidu.
E-commerce platforms
The development of new technologies and the increased use of smartphones and tablets allowed an explosive growth of the ecommerce in China. One of the best Chinese e-commerce platform is Tmall which is part of Alibaba group led by Jack Ma. This is definitely the largest B2C platform in China, it offers a wide a selection of affordable products and decent logistics and attracts value-conscious shoppers. Contrary to its competitor Taobao, the company has made arrangements to ensure that products sold on Tmall are authentic. Known as the “Amazon of China”, JD.com is also one the main B2C e-commerce platforms and is Tmall’s biggest rival. Consequently, using e-commerce platforms to develop your business is a must to efficiently enter the olive oil market.
Social media
China is the world largest connected country : more than 90% of Chinese people have an account on at least one Chinese social network. Wechat is the social media the most used in China and, regardless of the size of your company, it is an essential media to develop your marketing strategy in the country. By promoting your olive oil on social media, you can build a community surround your company, reach your target, get feedback and create a friendlier company image.
In China, olive oil is truly considered as a healthy oil and the country is still a booming market for olive oil with a great scale. And with the rise of Chinese income, consumers are gradually adding this ingredient to their daily cooking.
A Chinese website
A website in Chinese is necessary to enter a market and realize branding. This is an efficient solution to increase the popularity of your olive oil, influence consumers with content and design, and develop the image of your company in the country. Moreover, having a website written in mandarin is essential. Chinese consumers spend more than 40% of their daily life on Internet and these internet users trust more Chinese website than English website.
We are a digital marketing agency based in Shanghai and our team of 42 experts can help you to promote your olive oil products in China. Do not hesitate to contact us !
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