After acquiring Leonardo, the largest-selling olive oil brand from Dalmia Continental recently, Cargill India has taken the onus of promoting olive oil in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category.

The agri-food company is to take on the role of creating an FMCG business, apart from its regular edible oils and vanaspati business which have always been more commodity-driven.

Siraj A Chaudhry, Chairman, Cargill India said, “Leonardo Olive oil is like a FMCG brand and cannot be treated like a commodity. We will be creating more layers in the olive oil category, and have identified blends at the premium end of the category where Leonardo exists. The onus is now on us as we have a leadership position in this category.”

Distribution network Cargill India would also be leveraging its extensive distribution across 2.5 lakh outlets to make sure its new premium olive oil brand reaches the target audience.

“We have 3,000 distributors, which is much larger than what Dalmia Continental had, and are eager to take the Leonardo brand across 2.5 lakh outlets. Today, almost 15 per cent of our sales comes from modern trade. We would enhance it also across self-service formats.”

With a sales turnover of nearly ₹70 crore, Leonardo Olive oil has a 36 per cent volume share in the olive oil category. Cargill also has its own olive oil brands — Nature Fresh and Gemini — primarily targeted at smaller Tier 2 and 3 cities.

The company has introduced olive oil blends under the Gemini brand (olive oil blended with sunflower oil) to make it affordable in the smaller markets.

Since olive oil is imported, rupee depreciation had affected olive oil prices. To counter this, players such as Cargill and Dalmia created blended olive oils with lower prices.

“Most olive oil players have been lowering price points with offers and blends. Three months ago, we offered it under Gemini. The purpose is to drive further growth for the olive oil category, which is already growing at over 50 per cent,” said Chaudhry.

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