Introduction

Edible oil or cooking oil industry comprises companies that manufacture, distribute and supply oils meant for cooking and edible purposes. The oils manufactured are used for a variety of purposes; for cooking and frying at homes, large restaurants, and fast food chains and factories that produce foods needing no additional oil to be mixed or fried with, before consumption. The processes and procedures that are undertaken to manufacture oils involve corn wet-milling- a process through which the corn kernels are broken into their basic components-; processing soybeans, tree nuts, and vegetables into oil; refining vegetable fats; and blending vegetable fats with purchased animal fats.

The growth in the edible oil industry has been the result of many driving factors; not only from the demand perspective but from the consumer perspective as well. From the consumer trends perspective, demand is driven in the area of sweeteners, fats, food oils, and eating meat, since soybean meal is used primarily to feed poultry, swine, and cattle. The profitability of individual companies and organizations mainly depends on managing raw material costs and leveraging federal farm subsidies and efficient operations. The advantage with large companies and organizations is that the size of purchase, distribution, and marketing is incredibly large, organized, and systematic. On the contrary, small companies have to operate and compete effectively by understanding and catering accordingly to their local market, and offering specialized customized products that attract consumers.

The global edible oil industry is highly concentrated where the eight largest companies account for over 80% of the total industry’s revenue. In the edible oil industry, the major products include soybean cake and meal, shortening and cooking oils, corn sweeteners. Other products include margarine, butter blends, butter substitutes, soybean oil, palm oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, and other edible oils. The cooking oil is manufactured from a wide variety of edible oil plants.

Statistics

The edible oil industry worldwide is in good health as the rising population, disposable income, and increasing demand have made sure that the edible and cooking oil industry continues to perform efficiently and operate for a long time in the future. The global edible oil industry produces, imports, and exports throughout the year and the major consumer countries rely heavily on its domestic production and imports. India is one of the largest producers and exporters of the edible oil across the continent and the world. The climatic conditions in India favor growing a variety of seeds from which the oil can be extracted; These sorts of seeds are called oil seeds. The growing population and the varied dietary habits of different and diverse demographics have ensured a thriving market for the edible oil industry in the country and in Asia.

Statistically, oilseeds in India account for over 5% of the Gross National Product (GNP), and 14% of the country’s area accounts for the cultivation of crops. Some of the major oilseeds are Castor, Groundnut, Linseed, Niger, Rapeseed, Mustard, Safflower, Sesame, and Sunflower. India produces 10 percent of the world’s oilseeds; the cooking oil production industry in China also expanded rapidly in recent years and that is mainly due to the increased industry capacity and the high levels of domestic demand. Cooking oil consumption in China is expected to maintain the trend of rigid growth. The edible oil industry’s revenues are expected to be total $171.1 billion in 2013; an increase of over 17% in 2013. Over the past five years, revenue has been growing at an annualized rate of 16.3%, and the US edible oils manufacturing industry includes about 200 companies with combined annual revenue of about $65 billion.