Home ／ Insights on entering the Indian market
2026.03.24
The first thing you stumble over after being posted to India is where to buy soy sauce and miso. Delhi and Gurugram have specialty stores for Japanese ingredients, but the situation varies completely by city. It's also common to rely on a Japanese-language blog, go to a store, and find it's closed.
This article organizes four routes for getting Japanese ingredients, by city, and also checks restrictions on bringing in or shipping items from Japan against Indian government regulations. For eating out at restaurants, see our City Guide to Japanese Restaurants in India.
There are broadly four ways to get them. Rather than relying on just one, a realistic approach is to combine them: staples via online stores, fresh items from specialty stores, and anything only available in Japan via a trip home.
| Route | Best for | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese specialty grocery stores | Fresh and frozen items, tofu, Japanese rice, Japanese tableware | Concentrated in Delhi NCR; few options in other cities |
| Online specialty stores | Bulk buying of seasonings, dried goods, and frozen items | Delivery is limited to certain cities |
| Major e-commerce and upscale supermarkets | Frequently used items such as soy sauce, miso, sushi rice, and soba | Selection varies from day to day |
| Trips home / mail order | Dashi packs, furikake, sweets | Food containing beef is prohibited; meat and dairy products also cannot be brought in (details below) |
What matters most in the first few weeks are the items that form the foundation of flavor. Once you have soy sauce, miso, dashi, and rice, everyday meals can run on local vegetables and meat from there. On the other hand, Japanese tableware and specialty seasonings can wait without causing any trouble.
When deciding priorities, it's worth keeping in mind whether there's a substitute available if you run out.
One thing to watch out for is that information you find by searching in Japanese is often outdated. Haiko, a large supermarket that used to be in Powai, Mumbai, has closed, and the upscale food store Foodhall closed all its locations in 2023. The information below has been verified as of August 2026, based on each store's official information and the current lists maintained by local Japanese associations.
The Delhi National Capital Region is where Japanese ingredients are easiest to find in India. Specialty stores line Golf Course Road in Gurugram, where many Japanese expatriates live.
| Store | Location | Features |
|---|---|---|
| YAMATO-YA (Yamatoya) | Delhi (Sainik Farm) / Gurugram (Sector 57) | Japanese and Korean ingredients plus frozen fish and meat. Handmade sushi and bread are also available on weekends |
| Sekai Ichiba (World Market) | Gurugram, South Point Mall (Sector 53) | Carries fresh Japanese produce such as daikon, shiso, and yuzu, plus Japanese sweets and tableware |
| Kim’s Mart | Gurugram, DT Mega Mall (DLF Phase 1) | Mainly Korean ingredients but also carries Japanese seasonings; strong on imported fresh fish and meat |
| Iroha | Gurugram, M3M 65th Avenue (Sector 65) | A Japanese-style bakery. Alongside curry bread and cream puffs, it also stocks Japanese rice and seasonings |
YAMATO-YA's official website lists two locations, in Delhi and Gurugram. However, the Delhi store has moved from its former location in Safdarjung Enclave, so relying on old information won't get you there. It's safest to call ahead and confirm business hours before visiting.
The selection isn't as extensive as at specialty stores, but you can still find basic seasonings at upscale supermarkets carrying imported foods. Foodhall, the upscale food store that used to be at The Chanakya in Delhi, has closed, and the space is now occupied by Le Gourmet, run by Le Marche. If you head there based on an old article in Japanese looking for Foodhall, you'll come up empty.
Mumbai matches Delhi in the number of Japanese restaurants, but options are limited when it comes to specialty grocery stores for Japanese ingredients. Haiko Supermarket in Powai, often mentioned in Japanese-language blogs, has closed, so in this city it's realistic to combine the imported foods section of upscale supermarkets with wholesalers and online stores.
| Store | Location | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Freshpik | Powai (inside Hiranandani Gardens) | An upscale supermarket in the Reliance group. Has a section for Japanese, Korean, Thai, and other ingredients |
| Food Square | Santacruz West (Linking Road) ／Worli | A large gourmet store that opened on the site of the former Foodhall flagship store. Well-stocked with cheese and baked goods |
| Vedant Food Solutions | Lower Parel (Creative Industrial Estate) | A wholesaler and retailer of Japanese ingredients. Tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise, soba, nori, and sushi ingredients |
Vedant Food Solutions is primarily a wholesaler for restaurants, but it publishes its lineup of Japanese ingredients on its official website and clearly states its FSSAI license number. It's an option if you want to secure a steady supply in bulk.
In South India and West India, brick-and-mortar Japanese specialty grocery stores are hard to find. Bengaluru is a city with more than a dozen Japanese restaurants, but even the Bengaluru Japanese Association's living guide has no entry for grocery stores, so online specialty stores are the main way to get ingredients there.
MAIN DISH, an online store for Japanese ingredients, has branches in the following seven cities. Its official website lists each branch's address and phone number along with its GST number and FSSAI license number, which gives it a reassuring level of transparency.
In Chennai, the Japanese Association publishes a list of grocery stores and restaurants. It's kept more up to date than personal blogs, helping you avoid the mistake of visiting a store that has closed.
There are two ways to get Japanese ingredients in Pune.
In cities with few physical stores, online is the main option. That said, delivery coverage differs by provider, so check first whether your city is included.
Amazon India turns out to be surprisingly reliable. Kikkoman has established a local subsidiary in India and also runs its own direct sales site, and a system for distributing commonly used seasonings locally is gradually taking shape.
On the other hand, the same product can suddenly go out of stock on major e-commerce sites. It helps to keep things stable by buying seasonings you don't want to run out of from specialty stores, and price-sensitive dried goods from e-commerce.
This is where misunderstandings are most common. If you assume "anything is fine as long as it's for personal use," it will be confiscated at the airport. Food hygiene regulations and animal quarantine regulations are separate, and the latter is the real barrier.
Article 7 of India's Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017 states that when bringing in food for personal use, the regulations do not apply as long as the value is within the limit permitted by customs. In this case, you are required to submit FORM-7, declaring that the food is for personal consumption only and will not be sold domestically. Shelf-stable, unopened processed food can realistically be brought in within this allowance.
Livestock products are treated completely differently. India's Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying requires a Sanitary Import Permit, obtained before shipment, for importing livestock products, and limits the ports of entry to those with animal quarantine facilities in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Since there's no way an individual would have this permit for carry-on luggage or international mail, you should assume meat and dairy products will be confiscated.
| Category | What This Applies To | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Can Be Declared and Brought In Under the Personal-Use Allowance | Soy sauce, miso, dried noodles, dashi packs, furikake, sweets (all without meat or dairy ingredients) | Personal use is exempt from import regulations if within the customs-permitted value. Submit FORM-7 |
| Prohibited by Law | Beef and food containing beef. This also includes curry roux, instant noodles, and soup made with beef extract | Importing beef itself is completely prohibited |
| A permit is required, which is difficult for an individual to obtain | Meat products and dairy products in general | A Sanitary Import Permit obtained before shipment is required, and clearance is limited to locations with animal quarantine facilities |
Even for the same food, whether you carry it yourself or have it shipped affects how easily it gets through. Carry-on luggage can be declared as personal use on arrival, but packages sent by international mail or courier are treated as coming from a separate sender and recipient, and depending on the contents can be regarded as commercial. If you're having family send something, it's less likely to get held up at customs if they split it into small quantities and clearly note the type and amount of food.
| Carry-on and checked luggage | International mail and courier | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal-use declaration | The person can declare it themselves on arrival | Sender and recipient are treated separately, and it can be regarded as commercial |
| Liquids | Carry-on quantity is limited. Put soy sauce and mirin in checked luggage | Not restricted, but needs packaging to prevent damage |
| Tips for Getting Through More Easily | Keep it unopened, with the ingredient label intact | Split into small quantities, and have the type and amount of food clearly noted |
Japanese curry roux and instant noodles are easy to overlook. Products containing beef extract are not uncommon, and beef is banned from import even in the form of an ingredient in a processed product. Retail packaged food is even required to state that it doesn't contain beef, so if you send a box without checking the ingredient label, the whole thing can get held up. Check the ingredients list for meat or dairy content before bringing anything in.
Everything up to this point has been from an expatriate's perspective, but flip it around and it also means supply still hasn't caught up with demand. In cities outside Delhi NCR, there are almost no physical store options, and a handful of online retailers are absorbing the demand.
If you're going to sell products on an ongoing basis, the personal-use allowance doesn't apply. The importer needs an Importer Exporter Code (IEC) and an FSSAI import license, and the label must display, in English or Hindi, the veg/non-veg mark, the FSSAI logo and license number, and the country of origin.
What matters in practice is the shelf-life rule. At the point of customs clearance, packaged imported food must have at least 60% of its shelf life remaining, or three months, whichever is shorter. Given that sea freight takes four to six weeks, products with a short shelf life simply don't work from the design stage onward. For details on tariffs and customs clearance, see Importing Food into India and Tariffs.
For how Japanese food makers already operating in India have moved, see A Comparison of Japanese Food Makers' India Expansion.
The Delhi National Capital Region. Specialty stores such as YAMATO-YA and Sekai Ichiba are especially concentrated around Golf Course Road in Gurugram, where you can even get fresh Japanese produce. Other cities have few physical stores, so online specialty stores are the main option.
Specialty stores for Japanese ingredients are limited. Haiko Supermarket, which used to be in Powai, has closed. Currently, it's realistic to combine the imported foods section of Freshpik, an upscale supermarket also in Powai, Food Square in Santacruz West, the wholesaler Vedant Food Solutions in Lower Parel, and the online store MAIN DISH.
There are no brick-and-mortar Japanese specialty grocery stores to be found, and even the Bengaluru Japanese Association's living guide has no entry for grocery stores. The Bengaluru branch of the online specialty store MAIN DISH is the main way to get ingredients there.
Food for personal use is exempt from India's food import regulations as long as its value is within the limit permitted by customs, and requires submitting a declaration form called FORM-7. Shelf-stable, unopened processed food can realistically be brought in. However, meat and dairy products are treated differently and cannot be brought in without a Sanitary Import Permit obtained before shipment.
No. Importing beef and food containing beef is completely prohibited in India, and this applies even when beef is included as an ingredient in a processed product. Check the ingredient label for curry roux, instant noodles, soup, and snacks.
The importer needs an Importer Exporter Code (IEC) and an FSSAI import license. The label must display the veg/non-veg mark, the FSSAI logo and license number, and the country of origin. In addition, since 60% of the shelf life or three months, whichever is shorter, must remain at the point of customs clearance, products with a short shelf life need to be designed with shipping time in mind.
How easily you can get Japanese ingredients differs greatly between the Delhi National Capital Region and everywhere else. In Gurugram, doing the rounds of specialty stores gets you even fresh items, but in Mumbai or Bengaluru you'll need to build around online options. And since store information found in Japanese can be outdated, it's safest to check an official website or a local Japanese association's list before heading out.
When it comes to bringing items in, there's a clear line between shelf-stable processed food and meat/dairy products. Sending things without knowing where that line is can get the whole package held up. If you're looking for a place to eat, see our City Guide to Japanese Restaurants in India as well.
MORE
Can Japanese products be placed on India's quick commerce?Will supermarkets in India stock Japanese products?Is wholesaling to India's ubiquitous kirana shops possible?Which malls in India are UNIQLO and MUJI in?Where does sales channel development in India start? How distribution works and how to choose a channelOrders placed in India do not arrive | How to find suppliers of ingredients and materials, and what to do about itSOJAPAN
We support Japanese companies entering India, from market research through local partner development, test sales, and import.