The untapped opportunity of the halal market

As the number of Muslims worldwide continues to rise, so too will the demand for halal-certified products.

Though halal food is a requirement for Muslims, it is not always easily accessible for those living outside of Muslim-majority countries. The nature of halal makes it challenging to determine whether or not a product qualifies simply by looking at it. While certain items like pork and alcohol are outright prohibited, many other considerations do not show up on a product label, such as how a halal animal like a cow or a chicken was slaughtered, or what the source of an enzyme or gelatine is. Therefore, achieving halal certification from a specialist organisation is essential for manufacturers wanting to make their products available to Muslim consumers.

What is halal?

At its core, halal is a simple concept. The word itself is an Arabic term meaning ‘lawful’ or ‘permissible’. At the other end of the spectrum is haram, which means ‘unlawful’ or ‘forbidden’. The requirements outlining what is halal and what is haram come from both the Quran, the holy book of the Muslim faith, and Hadith, teachings from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Two of the most well-known aspects of halal food are the absence of pork and alcohol, including ingredients derived from these sources such as enzymes, stearates or fats. Other lesser known but still fundamentally important requirements are zabihaslaughter (not using meat from animals that are carnivores – including birds of prey) and removing blood from all products.

Zabiha slaughter is one aspect of halal food that is impossible to determine without proper supervision. Its first requirement is that the animal is killed by a cut to the neck with a sharp knife. The people performing the slaughter must be Muslims, invoke God’s name while they cut the throat of the animal, and the animal must then be left to bleed out completely. This blood loss must be the reason for the animal’s death; meaning that the animal must be alive up until the point that its neck is cut. Opinions differ regarding whether or not stunning is acceptable, depending on the Islamic school of thought, but scholars agree that stunning must be non-lethal. 

For a product to be considered halal, these requirements must apply to every part of a finished product. Each animal-derived ingredient must come from a halal animal that was slaughtered in accordance with these guidelines, and no porcine-derived materials may be used at any time. Consumers are not typically privy to a company’s manufacturing process, and they may lack the in-depth knowledge of food science necessary to understand which ingredients could present a problem. Because of these factors, they are unable to confirm that a product is halal simply by reading the ingredients on the back of a package. Instead, they have to perform the time-consuming activity of speaking with the company to verify that the product is indeed halal – unless the product is halal certified, that is.

How certification helps businesses

Halal certification is not only a valuable tool for consumers, it also allows companies to market their products to a whole new sector of the population. Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world. According to the Pew Research Center, while adherents made up about 23 percent of the population in 2010, they are projected to reach 30 percent by 2050.¹ Interestingly, while the worldwide population is expected to increase by 35 percent in that time, the Muslim population is expected to rise by 73 percent,² over double that of global population growth. The purchasing power of these consumers is also immense. According to the 2020/21 State of the Global Islamic Economy Report, Muslim spending is projected to reach $2.4 trillion by 2024.³ In particular, Muslim expenditure on food represents a significant portion, with the same report predicting it reaching $1.38 trillion by the same year.

How halal relates to other market trends

One of the benefits of halal is that it easily fits into other popular food and nutrition trends. Though eating halal encompasses several requirements, many of these align with other diets like plant-based or vegan. Several aspects of halal are related to which animals are acceptable for consumption and how they are slaughtered, and these would not present a problem for a product that includes no animal-derived ingredients. Halal can also be integrated into diets such as keto, paleo, or the Mediterranean diet, as only slight modifications may be needed to comply with halal requirements. This makes halal not only good for Muslims but for the population in general.

Halal certification also fits in well with the clean-label movement. While the true meaning of the term ‘clean label’ is still being debated, most definitions include a nod towards more transparency in food labelling. According to a 2019 FoodThink study, a quarter of customers actively distrust the food industry,⁶ and Executive Director of the Clean Label Project, Jaclyn Bowen, MPH, MS, notes that a ‘growing area of consumer interest and expectation when it comes to clean label, is an increased focus on product contents that are not found on the label.’⁷ Those following a halal diet have even more reason for concern, considering that these labels typically do not describe the manufacturing processes, which may or may not incorporate things like lubricants derived from pigs.