Halal food no longer a minority taste

[Al-khiyal]

Halal food no longer a minority taste

September 18, 2009 -- It has always been seen as a minority taste, dominated by specialist companies and independent retailers and largely neglected by gourmet restaurants. But now the halal food market is seeing a surge of interest from mainstream producers and top chefs who are discovering a new market among young, middle class Muslims.

Sales of organic halal meat are up during the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslims prepare to mark the end of fasting with the festival of Eid al-Fitr this weekend. Eid, "festivity" in Arabic, is typically celebrated with friends, family and good food, with many Muslims cooking a feast to mark the end of a month of abstinence from food and drink during daylight hours. Upmarket restaurants have begun offering banquets complete with non-alcoholic cocktails to celebrate the end of abstinence and Harrods has introduced a range of halal gift confectionery to coincide with Eid.

There are an estimated 2.6 million Muslims in Britain, representing just over 3% of the population, but their appetite for meat outstrips that of the general population. The market for halal fresh meat is estimated at £400m, equivalent to 11% of meat sales, according to Mintel. Fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald's and Domino's Pizza are all working on trials offering halal meat, but options for upmarket dining have traditionally been more limited. That has now begun to change.

Zaika, a stylish Indian restaurant in Kensington, central London, frequented by well-known names including Formula One racing driver Jenson Button and comedian Ruby Wax, has launched a range of alcohol-free cocktails and has a wide variety of halal dishes on its menu. Head chef Sanjay Dwivedi said: "It's been really busy during Ramadan and we've had so many young British Muslims coming in, some of them breaking their fast here or coming in later on to eat. "They're all young, professional and moneyed and all quite trendy – they've got disposable incomes to go out and have really great food, and they know they can get halal meat here."

Awana, a Malaysian restaurant in Chelsea, has been running a Ramadan feast menu all month, catering for the evening meal when the daily fast is broken. And Benares, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Mayfair headed by chef Atul Kochhar, serves several halal dishes, including pan-fried chicken breast, fennel infused Kentish lamb chops and marinated free range spring chicken. Bord'Eaux, a French restaurant at the five-star Grosvenor House hotel on Park Lane, also offers halal chicken and lamb dishes. "We don't advertise our menu as halal because some of our sauces contain wine, but if a customer wanted us to amend a dish and have a halal meal, we would happily accommodate them," said restaurant manager Raoul de Souza.

The trend extends to home cooking too. At Abraham Natural Produce, a mail order halal meat business, orders have increased by 40% during Ramadan as families have been planning ahead for their Eid menus. Duck, beef and guinea fowl have been particularly popular for customers who want a British-style roast dinner. Sarah Carr and her husband Ali run the business, which is based in Devon. She said: "There's a growing awareness about animal welfare and ethical produce among all consumers, including Muslims. A lot of our clients tend to be younger Muslim professionals who have got into organic food either because they're foodies who watch Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, or because they feel strongly about the ethical organic movement. These guys want to be able to sit down to a nice organic Sunday roast, and get cuts of meat they can't normally get in your average halal butcher."

Abraham Natural Produce has also supplied Fearnley-Whittingstall's restaurant, River Cottage, in Axminster, Devon, with halal organic cuts. A spokesman for River Cottage said: "We've used their halal goat meat because of the fantastic quality. We believe everyone should have access to free range and organic produce and [it's important] that it comes from as local a producer as possible in season." Harrods' gift confectionery, made by the Chocolate Factory, includes boxes of sugar coated fruit pastilles and raspberry and blackberry fruit-flavoured gums, made using halal gelatin. Last year, the emporium launched a range of halal Belgian chocolates for Ramadan.

[Felicity]

I see two reason for the high percentage of halal meat consumption,
1) there could be other families such as mine, where only 1 person is muslim, but to satisfy the 1 persons dietary requirements, the whole household eats halal meat (so 3 more people, plus any guests who come round).
2) halal meat tends to be cheaper than bigger supermarket's meat.

Plus, basically all curries restaurants are halal, and they say thats one of the nations favourite food. And again, its often cheaper to purchase halal than non-halal meat for restaurants.

[Al-khiyal]

Halal food going mainstream in Europe - Nestlé

THE HAGUE, November 17, 2009 (Reuters) -- The business of selling food that is halal, or acceptable to Muslims, is set to grow rapidly in Europe in coming years as more supermarket chains target the sector, a Nestlé executive said on Tuesday. Frits van Dijk, executive vice president at the world's biggest food group, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Halal Forum in The Hague he expected the halal food business in Europe to grow by 20 to 25 percent within the next decade. The total European halal food market is currently valued at about $66 billion, including meat, fresh food and packed food, while the global market is worth about $634 billion.

"We are starting to see that these products are not just in speciality shops but are also starting to get into the mainstream of modern retailers," said Van Dijk, pointing to Britain's Tesco and France's Carrefour, which stock halal goods. The halal industry is based on a belief that Muslims should eat food and use goods such as cosmetics that are "halalan toyibban", which means permissible and wholesome.

Milk powder, cooking aids, seasoning and sauces are among the most popular halal products in Europe at the moment, while Nestlé has recently started selling a range of meat-based and frozen food halal products in France, Van Dijk said. Nestlé is the world's leading manufacturer of halal food, selling about 5.3 billion Swiss francs ($5.23 billion) worth of halal food in 2008, about 5 percent of its annual revenue. Its established halal food markets include Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and Middle Eastern countries, while France, Britain and Germany are emerging as its key halal markets in Europe.

"Twenty percent of the world's population is going to be Muslim one day and they have expectations, they have needs," said Van Dijk. "If they want to be confident that what they eat and drink is in line with their beliefs, then a company likes ours has to make an extra effort to try and meet those needs."

About 85 of Nestlé's 456 factories globally are now halal-certified but Van Dijk said different interpretations of halal standards around the world were a challenge for the industry. Muslim jurists do not always agree on what is halal. Islam prohibits the consumption of pork and prescribes how animals must be slaughtered, but there has been debate on the acceptability of non-alcoholic beer, collagen and vinegar. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is working on a single standard to be applied in its 57 member countries, a move that would boost the industry, although politics and varied interpretations may complicate the task. Van Dijk said the industry needed more transparency and clearer labelling on products would help consumers make up their own minds about whether standards met their expectations.

[Al-khiyal]

France :
Le marché du halal en plein boom

Jeudi 21 Janvier 2010 -- Le marché des produits halal devrait représenter plus de 4,5 milliards d'euros en France en 2010. C'est ce qui ressort d'une enquête réalisée par l'institut Solis. Un chiffre qui confirme le boom de ce secteur économique depuis plusieurs années. Selon cette enquête, la forte croissance du marché du halal se confirme par le lancement de nouveaux produits, toujours plus nombreux et de plus en plus visibles dans les commerces, notamment dans la grande et moyenne distribution. Le ramadhan 2009 a également constitué un moteur d'expansion. Les marques Halal n'ont pas hésité, pour la première fois pour certaines, à réaliser des opérations de communication et marketing sur les chaînes de télévisions nationales et à des heures de grande écoute.

Selon cette étude, les produits les plus achetés restent la viande et la charcuterie, loin devant les plats cuisinés, les bouillons cubes ou les soupes. Ainsi, en Ile de France par exemple, l'augmentation du nombre d'acheteurs de charcuterie a atteint 31% entre février et octobre 2009, et 51% pour les plats cuisinés. Autre fait notable, les grandes marques françaises d'agroalimentaire n'hésitent plus à créer leur gamme de produits « halal » pour concurrencer les marques traditionnelles. L'enquête qui a également porté sur la restauration rapide halal montre que ce secteur devrait représenter en 2010 un chiffre d'affaires de 1 milliard d'euros. Le développement de grandes enseignes spécialisées devrait en effet se poursuivre, face à l'attente des consommateurs. En effet, le marché du halal en France concerne potentiellement 5 millions de personnes, issues de l'immigration du Maghreb, de Turquie et d'Afrique subsaharienne. Au total, entre produits et restauration rapide, le marché est estimé à 5,5 milliards d’euros, selon Solis.

[Al-khiyal]

Pass the couscous – and the foie gras

Paris, February 19, 2010 -- For the unsuspecting visitor to the working class Parisian quarter of Barbès-Rochechouart, delicacies such as foie gras and confit de canard would probably seem out of place on grounds of affordability and custom alone. Men without work gather several deep on the pavements to smoke and chat, while women crowd into the rough-and-ready market beneath a raised section of the Paris Métro in search of bargains for the essentials of life. But amid all the signs that, for many, times are hard, it is possible to wander into an Algerian-owned butcher’s shop and buy halal foie gras. As a mark of growing sophistication and taste for experiment among France’s Muslim community, Europe’s largest at between five and seven million according to estimates, sales have risen dramatically in recent years. Across the street from the noise and congestion of the Barbès-Rochechouart market, the Boucherie de la Place looks at first glance like any traditional French butcher’s shop. But the shop sign has Arabic characters, too, and inside the maghrébin influence becomes clear, with an abundance of halal meat and a photograph of the Algerian football team dominating the wall. As he deals with a steady stream of mainly Muslim customers, the owner, Aziz Hamdame, thinks at first that he has sold out of halal foie gras. Then a relative produces a jar. “It sells very well,” he says. “Tastes are evolving and there are also a lot of mixed relationships now in France. “It is a little quieter at present but it sells like hot cakes whenever there are festivals coming up, whether Muslim or Christian, or for marriage receptions.”

One mixed relationship, between Ahmed Fettani, a French-Algerian, and his French wife Annick, has led to a remarkable success story in food marketing. From Saint Privat in the Corrèze, an area of the south-west that is as deeply rural as la France profonde gets, the Fettanis run Bienfaits de France, supplying wholesale food distributors with a variety of halal products, notably foie gras and confit de canard. The couple seem as proud as anyone involved in the food trade in France when stressing that they buy only French ducks for their produce. Sales of halal confit have risen 34 per cent since the business began in 2006. In the case of foie gras, the growth is 28 per cent since 2006 and 13 per cent year on year from 2008 to 2009. “French society has become such a mixture that it is not surprising that people are trying new things,” says Mrs Fettani. “The taste is no different from classic foie gras as the means of preparation are identical. The only difference is that we used halal ducks.” The Bienfaits de France website states: “Our ducks, chickens and rabbits are sacrificed, cut and processed in strict observance of Muslim rites.” While non-Muslim French usually choose sweet white wine to accompany foie gras, Mrs Fettani says a natural alternative for Muslims would be non-alcoholic grape juice, sold in red, white and sparkling varieties. The couple currently sells their products only in France but are hoping to expand to the export market.

Sales growth has been even more marked in branches of supermarket chains serving areas with large concentrations of Muslim residents. At Gennevilliers, on the outskirts of Paris, Carrefour reports sales 10-times higher than two years ago, with up to 30 jars or tins sold daily at busy times. For all the advances made by distributors such as the Fettanis, and the increased availability at supermarkets, some French Muslims have clearly not yet got the message. “I have never tried it because I didn’t know it existed,” says a well-educated French-born Muslim, Mounia Benaili, who lives in Paris. “But I am going to try it if I come across it. Certainly it’s a question of religion but above all, in an age of junk food when we don’t even know what we’re eating with mass-produced products, it is the fact that halal meat has been cleansed both spiritually and physically.” Ms Benaili says cost is also a factor because halal products are generally dearer. Although wide variations in quality and recipe make comparisons difficult, a jar bought by The National from Mr Hamdane was – at €14.90 (Dh74) for 180g – only marginally more expensive than equivalent non-halal varieties found online. And not every French Muslim is ready for the experience of eating it. The search for a volunteer in Barbès-Rochechouart to sample Mr Hamdane’s foie gras led coincidentally to the Restaurant Familial, run by his grandson, Yassin, 28. “I’m not going to like this,” he said, even before trying a slice with French baguette. One taste was enough to confirm his preconception, which had nothing to do with whether or not it was halal. With French emphasis, he declared: “Foie gras! That’s for the bourgeoisie. I can tell you it’s not going to replace couscous at my restaurant.”

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Conserves hallal

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[Al-khiyal]

UK: 'Halal poultry falsely labelled'

March 12, 2010 -- Up to three-quarters of poultry sold as halal in the UK is falsely labelled, an industry group has warned. The majority of halal-labelled poultry and a small amount of beef and lamb were slaughtered by machine rather than an individual, Naved Syed, of the English Beef and Lamb Executive Halal Steering Group, told The Grocer magazine. The meat was being passed off as halal because the slaughter method was not usually printed on labels. Mr Syed said: "If you told Muslims it was done by a machine they wouldn't buy it. Practically all imams in this country have said that machine killing is not halal. Otherwise there's no difference between halal and non-halal." The UK does not have a single standard for halal slaughter. Many Muslim countries have outlawed the practice after the internationally-recognised Malaysian Halal Standard MS 1500 removed machine slaughtering as an acceptable practice last year. The Birmingham Council of Mosques said last week that it did not accept machine slaughter. Mr Syed said his organisation was carrying out consumer research into attitudes towards halal production. The study will cover the growth of the Muslim population in England, the demand for halal products, the supply chain and changing consumption trends. Zahid Hussain, chairman of poultry processor Cappoquin Poultry, told The Grocer: "Machine slaughter is definitely not a lawful condition of halal. You have to have a manual slaughter and also each bird needs to be blessed."

[Al-khiyal]

Les opérateurs algériens de l’agroalimentaire appelés à saisir leur chance :
L’Europe, un marché propice pour les produits halal

Samedi 27 Mars 2010 -- Les producteurs algériens de l’agroalimentaires sont invités à participer au Salon de l’alimentation et des services halal, prévu les 30 et 31 mars à Paris, afin de profiter des opportunités d’affaires qu’offre cette manifestation pour développer et intensifier leurs exportations de produits halal vers les pays européens à forte communauté musulmane. «Les onze sociétés algériennes devant prendre part à ce Salon devrait profiter de cet espace d’échanges qui réunit les distributeurs, les fabricants et les importateurs de produits halal en France et en Europe», a déclaré le responsable de l’agence organisatrice du Salon GL Events Exhibitions, M. Farid Terrache. S’exprimant lors d’une journée technique sur le marché des produits halal en Europe, organisée par Algex et Optimexport (Programme de renforcement des capacités exportatrices des PME algériennes), M. Terrache a indiqué que la quasi-totalité de l’offre halal en Europe, particulièrement en France, est assurée par des sociétés locales gérées, en grande partie, par des cadres originaires de pays maghrébins. En revanche, aucune société de droit algérien n’a pu encore investir dans ce domaine. Parmi les créneaux qui connaissent une croissance appréciable en Europe, il a cité les plats cuisinés (surgelés), les produits carnés, les produits d’épiceries, les boissons non alcoolisées et les produits traditionnels dits du bled comme le couscous ainsi que les graisses alimentaires d’origines animales non porcines. Le chiffre d’affaires de cette activité a atteint 641 milliards de dollars à travers le monde en 2009 contre 632 milliards en 2008, dont plus de 5 milliards en France où elle connaît une croissance annuelle de 10 %, selon M. Wael Hasnaoui, consultant auprès de fabricants et de distributeurs de produits halal.

En Europe, région où les opérateurs algériens devraient se concentrer davantage à la faveur des avantages accordés dans le cadre de l’accord d’association avec l’Union européenne (UE), la France représente la plus importante communauté musulmane avec plus de 6 millions de personnes issues, notamment, des pays du Maghreb, mais aussi des musulmans français de souche, soit 10 % de la population totale de ce pays, a indiqué M. Hasnaoui. Elle est suivie de l’Allemagne avec 2,5 millions, la Grande-Bretagne (1,6) et l’Espagne (1). Selon ce consultant, les produits halal commencent à enregistrer un certain engouement même auprès de consommateurs non musulmans. M. Hasnaoui a soulevé, par ailleurs, la problématique de la certification des produits en faisant constater qu’il existe, rien qu’en France, une cinquantaine d’organismes de certification et de labellisation. «Certains de ces organismes travaillent sérieusement et leurs listes de producteurs certifiées sont périodiquement actualisées, alors que d’autres sont laxistes, ce qui a conduit à des dérives provoquant une certaine perte de confiance auprès des consommateurs, très exigeants en matière de respect des principes islamiques», a-t-il révélé. Sur ce point, le directeur général d’Algex, M. Mohamed Benini, a affirmé que cette problématique représente, au contraire, «un important atout pour les producteurs algériens locaux qui sont totalement conformes aux principes de la charia en termes d’abattage».