Frost & Sullivan officially releases the '2025 China Peanut Oil Industry White Paper'

Edible oil, as a core component of the human dietary system, is not only a basic energy carrier to maintain normal physiological functions but also an important source of nutrients that support growth and development and ensure daily energy consumption. From the perspective of contemporary food science, vegetable oils are gradually becoming the mainstream choice in modern diets due to their unique nutritional advantages. Compared with traditional animal fats, vegetable oils are rich in unsaturated fatty acids and have lower cholesterol content. These health benefits not only meet the basic energy supply needs but also align with contemporary consumers' pursuit of healthy diets. With the improvement in nutritional awareness, more and more families and food companies are choosing vegetable oils as their primary cooking oil, driving the continuous upgrading of the consumption structure of edible oils.

In 2024, China's edible vegetable oil production was about 30.05 million tons, among which soybean oil accounted for the largest proportion, at 57.6%. Next were rapeseed oil and peanut oil.

From 2017 to 2024, China's edible oil consumption showed an upward trend, reaching 37.35 million tons in 2024. Overall, China's edible oil consumption showed an upward trend from 2017 to 2024. Data shows that the consumption started from 32.66 million tons in 2016/17. In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, household hoarding demand surged, breaking through 36 million tons for the first time to 36.35 million tons. In the following years, catering consumption recovered, and domestic edible oil demand entered a fluctuating upward phase, rising to 37.35 million tons in 2023/24.

The deep penetration of the concept of healthy consumption is leading China's edible oil market into a structural transformation. In the future, edible oil consumption will show trends such as smaller packaging and easier storage, a healthier structure of oil consumption, and further development of functional oil products. As the public's awareness of dietary nutrition and cardiovascular health management upgrades, the scientific use of oil has gradually become the core consideration in consumption decisions. At the category selection level, high-oleic acid peanut oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, is rapidly emerging as a new favorite in the market. Its oil acid content generally exceeds 75%, and its strong antioxidant properties and high smoke point meet both the healthy needs of home cooking and the high-temperature cooking scenarios of Chinese cuisine. At the same time, high-end oils such as camellia seed oil and olive oil are also expanding their market share, gradually replacing the consumption space of traditional soybean oil. This reshaping of the market pattern driven by quality demands marks the official entry of China's edible oil industry into a high-level competitive stage guided by nutritional value and functional characteristics.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, analysis by Frost & Sullivan

Peanut oil refers to the oil extracted from peanut kernels, rich in various fatty acids, trace elements such as zinc, and nutrients like vitamin E. From a flavor perspective, peanut oil has an attractive aroma and taste and is a high-quality cooking oil that is easy to digest. According to the national standard 'Peanut Oil' (GB/T 1534-2017), peanut oil is classified into crude peanut oil and finished peanut oil based on its nature, and into pressed peanut oil and solvent extraction peanut oil based on the production process. Pressed peanut oil refers to a traditional oil extraction method that uses mechanical force to press out the oil from the material, which is further divided into hot pressing and cold pressing processes. Solvent extraction peanut oil refers to the process of using a solvent (such as n-hexane) that meets national standards, utilizing the mutual solubility between the oil and the solvent to extract and dissolve it, followed by a strict process to remove the solvent from the oil.

In the early stages of peanut oil development, traditional manual pressing was the main method, using primitive tools such as stone mills and wooden presses. Peanut oil was mainly produced and sold locally in rural areas, without forming a scaled-up commercial market. Due to backward technology and the impact of wars, the industry developed slowly. With the introduction of mechanical pressing equipment by state-owned oil factories, peanut oil production gradually transitioned from manual to semi-mechanized processes. During the planned economy period, grain and oil were purchased and sold uniformly, and as one of the important edible oils, peanut oil supply was limited. After the reform and opening up in the 1980s, the market gradually liberalized, and private oil mills began to appear. In 1990, with the relaxation of China's soybean import restrictions and the increase in edible vegetable oil import quotas, the proportion of peanuts used as an oilseed material gradually decreased, marking a period of turmoil for the peanut oil industry. After 2010, with the rapid development of China's peanut industry, traditional peanut processing methods were gradually upgraded to efficient and automated production lines. This progress not only improved processing efficiency but also enhanced product quality.

The peanut oil industry chain in our country mainly consists of: upstream peanut planting enterprises, midstream peanut oil pressing production enterprises, and downstream sales terminals. Among them, the peanut oil pressing production enterprises are the most valuable core of the industry chain. Upstream sector - Peanut planting enterprises: Their main role is to provide raw materials and seeds to ensure the stability and quality of production. Midstream sector - Peanut oil pressing production enterprises: Their main function is to produce and press peanut oil, which is then supplied to downstream processing enterprises and consumers. Downstream sector - Terminal sales: It mainly consists of selling peanut oil products to individual consumers and end-users such as catering.

During the period from 2018 to 2024, the market scale of peanut oil in China showed a development trend of 'steady growth first, followed by phased adjustments'. Data shows that the market scale started at 46.52 billion yuan in 2018. Relying on consumer upgrading and the increasing demand for the quality of edible oil, it increased to 50.28 billion yuan and 52.96 billion yuan in 2019 and 2020 respectively, with a cumulative increase of 13.8% over the two years, demonstrating strong market resilience. From 2021 to 2024, the industry entered a stage of stable growth, with market scales of 53.56 billion yuan, 54.46 billion yuan, 54.59 billion yuan, and 53.93 billion yuan in sequence, respectively. The growth rate slowed down but still maintained a positive trend, reflecting the gradual maturation and stabilization of the peanut oil market under intensified competition and cost pressures.

From the perspective of price structure, the peanut oil market in 2024 exhibited clear consumption stratification characteristics. Peanut oil products can generally be divided into two categories based on average retail price: 'below 100 yuan/5L' and 'above 100 yuan/5L'. In 2024, the market size of China's peanut oil industry was dominated by products below 100 yuan/5L, accounting for 26.2%, mainly targeting price-sensitive consumers and concentrated in third- and fourth-tier cities as well as catering channels; while products above 100 yuan/5L accounted for 73.8%, becoming the mainstream of the market. This trend is closely related to consumers' pursuit of quality and health under the backdrop of consumption upgrading. It is worth noting that the high proportion of high-end products also reflects the market positioning of peanut oil as a high-end edible oil, with consumption concentrated in economically developed regions and married families. This group has lower price sensitivity and pays more attention to the nutritional value and brand premium of products.

Source: Public data, Frost & Sullivan analysis

With the increasing awareness of health, consumers are paying more attention to the quality, nutritional content, and safety of edible oils. The development of the peanut oil industry shows the following trends:

With the enhancement of consumers' health awareness and purchasing power, higher standards have been set for the quality of peanut oil. The market has entered a stage of refined cultivation from rapid growth, with consumers no longer merely satisfied with having oil available but are seeking high-quality product experiences. High-end peanut oil products such as 'traditional craftsmanship' have gradually entered mainstream markets.

Consumers are paying increasing attention to nutritional components when purchasing cooking oil. Peanut oil itself has an advantage in the ratio of fatty acids, containing more than 80% unsaturated fatty acids, 41% oleic acid, and about 37% linoleic acid. On this basis, high-oleic peanut oil has become a new favorite in the market. Oleic acid, as a healthy unsaturated fatty acid, is highly favored by consumers, and its content has entered the stage of precision measurement.

Food safety issues have always been a top priority for consumers. As one of the key factors affecting the safety of peanuts and their products, aflatoxin has received widespread attention. Aflatoxin is a secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which has strong thermal stability and is difficult to decompose during daily cooking and heating. Unripe peanuts in the field are susceptible to aflatoxin infection, and improper storage conditions can exacerbate toxin accumulation, becoming the main source of aflatoxin contamination in peanut oil products. With consumers' increasing awareness of the risk of aflatoxin, the national standard GB 2761-2017 has set strict limits (≤20 μg/kg) for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) content in peanut oil, which has also prompted peanut oil production enterprises to strengthen the detection and detoxification capabilities of aflatoxin and improve product safety assurance levels. Currently, mainstream peanut oil production enterprises are strengthening quality control at multiple stages. On one hand, they increase investment in testing equipment, introduce precision testing instruments such as high-performance liquid chromatography, and establish strict raw material and finished product testing systems. On the other hand, they actively develop detoxification processes such as physical adsorption and biodegradation, while optimizing storage conditions to control toxin production at the source. These measures not only significantly enhance the enterprise's risk management and control capabilities of aflatoxin but also effectively guarantee the edible safety of peanut oil products, allowing consumers to purchase and consume them with greater confidence.