Halal food and lifestyle, products manufactured or produced as per the Islamic laws, sectors are expected to grow phenomenally as Muslim population continues to grow and the companies hoping to tap into the lucrative market.
As per the latest State of Global Islamic Economy Report, published by Thomson Reuters in partnership with DinarStandard, consumer expenditure in 2012 for the fast-growing global halal food and lifestyle sectors was $1.62 trillion and is expected to be valued at $2.47 trillion by 2018.
“Global brands such as Nestle, Carrefour, Marriot, Pfizer, as well as regional investment firms and thousands of SME’s grapple with serving this fast growing, global, and complex market,” said Rafi-uddin Shikoh, Managing Director & CEO of DinarStandard, in a statement released yesterday.
The report defines halal as:
“Food permitted per Islamic dietary guidelines from the Qu’ran. Muslim followers cannot consume: pork or pork by products, animals that were dead prior to slaughtering, animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in the name of God, blood and blood by products, alcohol, carnivorous animals, birds of prey.”
GCC halal food imports are set to jump from $25.8 billion in 2010 to $53.1 billion by 2020, and the UAE’s annual halal food imports is expected to reach $8.4 billion by the end of the decade – according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The UAE is all geared to position itself as the gateway of this growing industry segment. The UAE government has recently announced setting up of ‘Halal Cluster,’ a 6.7 million square feet land in Dubai Industrial City, for firms dealing in halal food, cosmetics, and personal care items, according to the CEO of Dubai Industrial City, Abdullah Belhoul.
“This industry itself, we know it is growing. So we think there is a lot of opportunity… and we need to capitalize on this,” said the CEO.
The report mentions that the global Muslim consumers spent about $1,088 billion in food and beverage consumption in 2012, accounting for 16.6% of global expenditure. “This expenditure is expected to grow to $1,626 billion market by 2018. This represents the Halal food potential market world-wide within its core Muslim consumer market,” according to the report.
Source: Al-Bawaba