Japan’s household sesame oil market reaches about ¥40 billion as uses expand
Japan’s household sesame oil market reached an estimated ¥40 billion in 2025 as consumers increasingly used the oil as a finishing condiment. Producers are promoting applications beyond traditional cooking, including Western-style dishes, although price resistance remains a challenge.
Finishing uses support a ¥40 billion market
Japan’s household sesame oil market reached an estimated ¥40 billion in 2025, supported by demand extending beyond its conventional role as a cooking oil. Nihon Shokuryo Shimbun reported that consumers are increasingly pouring sesame oil directly onto prepared food and using it as a seasoning, creating an additional source of growth for one of the higher-value categories in the edible oil sector.
The publication’s estimate includes blended products and some chili oils. Both private-label and national-brand products maintained their positions on store shelves, indicating that the category has retained broad retail relevance even as consumers have faced rising prices. The market’s expansion is therefore tied not only to sales of traditional pure sesame oil but also to a wider group of sesame-based products.
The shift toward uncooked applications changes how the product competes. When used for frying or sautéing, sesame oil is primarily an ingredient; when added at the table, its aroma and flavor become more visible to consumers. This allows manufacturers and retailers to present it as a condiment and flavoring product rather than only as another household cooking oil.
Producers pursue uses outside traditional cuisine
Manufacturers are seeking demand in Western-style dishes and other applications outside sesame oil’s established culinary territory. Nihon Shokuryo Shimbun said broadening the range of uses can raise the product’s perceived value and expand the potential demand base. Such positioning may give producers more opportunities to demonstrate small-volume, finishing applications in which flavor is the main selling point.
Kadoya Sesame Mills is pursuing initiatives under the message “Open up the possibilities of sesame,” with measures intended to maximize the value associated with sesame. The company was identified as Japan’s leading manufacturer by cumulative brand sales value in the sesame oil market for the period from April 2025 through March 2026, based on Intage SRI+ data cited by Nihon Shokuryo Shimbun.
Other suppliers are differentiating through manufacturing methods and provenance. Iwai Sesame Oil, founded in 1857, has continued to use traditional pressing methods and does not use organic solvents, according to the report. The Yokohama-based company combines this production identity with activities focused on its local community, offering an example of how smaller producers can compete through process, quality and regional ties.
Price resistance remains a constraint
Demand growth does not remove pressure on supplier revenue. Takemoto Oil & Fat recorded a 3% year-on-year increase in edible oil sales by weight through July in its fiscal year ending December 2026, but sales by value fell 5.2%. Nihon Shokuryo Shimbun linked the difficult result partly to stronger consumer resistance following a price revision in the autumn two years earlier, alongside broader inflation.
The contrast between higher volume and lower sales value shows the limits of category expansion when shoppers remain price-sensitive. New serving ideas can increase usage occasions, but producers still need to defend price points and communicate differences between products. For manufacturers, retailers and ingredient buyers, the next stage of market development will depend on whether finishing uses and nontraditional recipes can support value as well as volume.
