Spanish oil, wine and gourmet food in India: tariffs to drop in mid-2027, but the brand must be ready beforehand

The free trade agreement between the EU and India slashes tariffs overnight on wine, olive oil, and processed foods. For an agri-food SME with its own brand, India is no longer an impossible market. However, tariffs fall equally for all European producers, and what will ultimately decide who sells there will be the brand.

What changes and when

The EU and India concluded the agreement on 27 January 2026, following 18 years of negotiations. India will immediately eliminate tariffs on 93% of what it imports from the EU and will partially reduce a further 3.6%.

For the Spanish food sector, the changes are as follows:

• Wine: drops from 150% to between 20% and 30%.

• Olive oil and processed food: currently taxed between 30% and 55%, they will become duty-free.

The agreement is not yet in force. On 11 September, the Commission asked member governments for authorisation to sign it. It must then receive the green light from the European Parliament, whilst India conducts its own ratification. Brussels is working towards May 2027 as a target date.

Not all Spanish companies are looking towards India. In the 2025 KPMG Internationalisation Observatory, just 14% of exporting company executives ranked it among the countries with the greatest potential. It is a minority. Those who arrive prepared will face far less Spanish competition than they might imagine.

There are roughly seven months left, and while the date could still shift, it is in principle enough time to apply for trademark registration in India (although it takes over a year, you can sell while it is being processed), adapt your brand, begin initial production, and set up communications. Whoever starts today will meet the deadlines, but whoever waits for the agreement to come into force will not arrive until 2028.

Why tariffs alone are not enough

A tariff changes the price of your product on the shelf, but it does not change the fact that nobody in India knows your brand.

Until now, entering India was expensive, and that filtered out who even tried. With the agreement, the cost drops for all European exporters on the exact same day. A winery from La Rioja and one from Bordeaux will arrive with the identical tariff. The Indian buyer will choose based on what they understand about each one.

European brands still have little presence there. Even Mango, which has been in the country for a decade, says so. That is an opportunity, but also a challenge: consumers have few reference points to place you, know little about Spain (beyond what they may have seen in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara), and, almost certainly, nothing about your business.

Before May 2027, four things need to be sorted out: knowing which India you are selling to, ensuring the trademark belongs to you there, making sure the name works, and ensuring your importer or partner can implement it effectively.

India is not one market, it is three

India has around 1.47 billion inhabitants, but for an €18 bottle of olive oil, the real addressable market is far smaller.

India 1 represents between 130 and 140 million people, around 10% of the population. Their purchasing power is similar to that of Mexico. It accounts for two-thirds of the country’s non-essential spending: cars, premium housing, travel, and brands.

India 2 is around 300 million people, with an income level similar to Indonesia or the Philippines. They are beginning to spend on non-essentials, making frequent, yet small, purchases.

India 3 comprises about 1 billion people, with income levels comparable to Sub-Saharan Africa. They buy the essentials and do not have disposable income to spend on anything discretionary.

In 2023, around 60 million Indians earned roughly $10,000 a year. By 2027, that figure will be approximately 100 million.

And be very cautious when hearing the term “middle class”. The PRICE institute's ICE 360 survey states that 31% of Indians are middle class, but their threshold starts at 500,000 rupees a year per household, roughly €5,000. That middle class does not buy what the European middle class buys.

A gourmet Spanish olive oil, wine, or preserve is sold to India 1. Everything else (the name, the price, the packaging, where it is sold) must be decided with that 10% in mind, not 1.4 billion people.

Registering your trademark in India

If your trademark is not registered in India, it does not belong to you in India. It is the first thing that needs to be done, and the one that takes the longest.

India has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since 8 July 2013. With a single international application through WIPO, you can designate India alongside other countries. Three key points must be borne in mind:

• Intention to use. When designating India, you declare that you intend to use the trademark there for the specified goods and services. Only apply for the classes you actually plan to use.

• Long timelines. India has up to 18 months to issue a provisional refusal. If an opposition is filed, it can take even longer.

• Separate licensing. If a local partner is going to use your trademark, the licence must be recorded with the Indian national registry. Registering it with the international registry is not enough.

Via the national route, an unopposed application takes between 12 and 18 months according to law firm Harris Sliwoski, and between two and three years according to an analysis published in LiveLaw in September 2026. This timeframe does not prevent you from selling; whilst it is being processed, you can use the trademark with the ™ symbol (the ® is only permitted once registered). What matters is the filing date. India works predominantly on a first-to-file basis: if someone else applies for your name before you, that becomes your problem. That is why it pays to apply now.

This is no substitute for a trade mark attorney. Ask them as well whether it is advisable to register the trademark written in an Indian script.

Names, messaging, and local codes

The Indian Constitution recognises 22 languages in its Eighth Schedule. English is, alongside Hindi, an official language of the central government. Yet according to the 2011 census (the latest available…), it was spoken by only 10.6% of the population, around 129 million people. That is roughly the size of India 1. An English-language website will serve that audience, but it does not guarantee your brand will be understood.

A brand name is not translated, but it is pronounced, written in other scripts, and searched for. Before entering, you need to check:

1. What the name means or sounds like in the languages of the regions where you intend to sell. For this, native speakers are required, not machine translation.

2. How it looks written in Devanagari or the local regional script if you plan to use local packaging or signage.

3. Whether the domain name and social media handles are available under that name in India.

4. Which parts of your brand story translate well. “Since 1952 in a village in Jaén” carries a lot of weight here. Over there, it might require an extra sentence explaining why that matters.

Translating is not enough. Getting people to buy from you simply because you are European is easy the first time. For repeat purchases, the brand must align with how the product is used locally.

The best example is Spanish. Deoleo, the company behind Bertolli, has been selling olive oil in India for more than forty years under another brand, Figaro. Its core customers are women aged 25 to 55 in major cities. In addition to cooking oil, it sells Figaro Baby, an oil for infant massage, which is a traditional practice in India. The oil is the same; what changes is the use suggested by the brand.

There are also mandatory codes. Labelling regulations from the FSSAI, India’s food safety regulator, mandate that all packaged food must feature a green symbol if vegetarian and a brown symbol if non-vegetarian. That symbol must be factored into your packaging design from day one. An interesting side note: except in South and North-East India, you will see signs in most restaurants stating that “non-veg options” are also available. Jai Hind!

As mentioned, vetting the name alone takes weeks. Adapting the brand, messaging, website, and packaging takes months, and it must all be finalised before printing anything.

Entering the market with an importer

Your partner in India will almost certainly be an importer or distributor who already manages twenty other European brands. They decide where your bottle is placed, what is said about it, and the retail price. If your brand cannot tell its own story, it will simply be another entry in their catalogue.

Major Spanish fashion brands also entered through partnerships: Zara, via a joint venture with the Tata Group (you might recall some of their car models arriving in Spain in the mid-1990s), and Mango, through franchise agreements operated by Myntra. In both cases, the brand is managed day-to-day by another company.

That is why, before signing with an importer, you must document in writing what your brand stands for, its tone of voice, what it never does, and who approves any changes. You do not need an 80-page manual; you just need enough clarity so that someone unfamiliar with your business can implement your brand without having to call you.

Checklist before May 2027

• ☐ Decide which India you are selling to, in which cities, and at what price point.

• ☐ Instruct a trade mark attorney to carry out a prior rights search in India.

• ☐ File the designation for India under the Madrid Protocol, covering only the classes you intend to use.

• ☐ Test the brand name with native speakers from the regions where you plan to sell.

• ☐ Check how the name is written in the local script and reserve space on the packaging for the FSSAI vegetarian/non-vegetarian symbol.

• ☐ Verify domain and social media handle availability for that name.

• ☐ Decide which elements of your brand story translate well and what local product uses the brand can propose.

• ☐ Set out brand guidelines in writing so that an importer or local partner can apply them seamlessly.

• ☐ Record the trademark licence with the Indian registry if entering via a partner.

If you are exporting or planning to export to India and would like to review whether your brand is ready, we would be delighted to assist you.