A consumer-driven demand for quality and specialised halal produce is leading exporters and distributors to offer more luxury, high-margin halal products
The Middle East has always had a large appetite for meat — creating a lucrative market for halal suppliers — but the evolution of consumer tastes is leading to a diversification of the region’s halal market.
Euromonitor International’s fresh food statistics show that total volume sales growth of fresh meat in predominantly Muslim countries is often higher than regional and global averages.
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Turkey, for instance, registered 9% growth over the 2004-2009 review period, while Western Europe managed just under 4%.
In the Middle East and Africa region, fresh meat volume sales rose by 17% over the same period, slightly above the global average of 15%.
Strong growth was recorded in many Muslim countries within the region, for example Saudi Arabia (21%), Egypt (22%), the UAE (32%) and Jordan (27%).
“The United Arab Emirates has one of the highest consumptions of meat per capita in the world,” explains Horeca Trade marketing and telesales manager Soula Baroudi.
“The overall demand for halal products is growing as the region’s population is increasing year-on-year,” she adds.
Diversification
As demand increases, so too does interest in the origins of halal produce.
“Consumers are beginning to ask more questions about ingredients, requesting products that are gluten or nitrate free. The halal consumer is becoming more health conscious,” says Midamar director Jalel Aossey.
“Halal organic foods have also gained in popularity as more and more people show an interest in product ingredients.”
This growth in demand, alongside the diversification in consumer tastes, has led to a number of new entrants in the halal supply market.
“There is plenty of opportunity for food companies to enter and grow this market,” says Aossey.
Among the newcomers are suppliers from Chile. Carlos Salas, trade commissioner, Embassy of Chile in the UAE says: “Halal used to be just products related to meat. Now the Muslim consumer is more worried about health and flavour”.
In addition to meat products, Chilean suppliers are offering halal-certified items such as dried fruit and juices.
“A very good product is a 100% freshly-pressed pure and natural fruit juice collection. The varieties are blueberry, raspberry, carica papaya, muscatel and Sauvignon grapes. They are popular for their unique tastes and health benefits,” says Salas.
By obtaining halal certification, he hopes “doors will be opened” for Chilean suppliers in the UAE, such as Atoz Foods which will soon start distributing a range of meat products in Dubai.
“The whole process of halal certification took us a good two years to get done including the approval of all the companies we work with and their products – now we are ready to go,” says Atoz Foods director John Eapen.
Eapen expects to see an influx of countries following in Chile’s footsteps.
“We see more countries getting their acts together in the medium- and short terms because this is an emerging market and if they want a piece of it, they need to stay abreast and be able to ship into the region.
“We see a lot of countries that have capabilities to produce world-class products rising to meet the standards required by the Horeca segment in the GCC and MENA. The chefs will be delighted to have this,” Eapen adds.
Chilean brand Colun is also new to the market: “The market has been challenging for us. There has been explosive growth in demand for our products. Being halal certified is the guarantee for us of satisfying the production, processing and quality requirements of the high-standard market and demanding customer,” says a spokesperson for the firm.
In 2013, Colun plans to launch a new cheese-processing factory to “produce the best products and dairy ingredients for halal consumers all over the world.”
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