According to Organic Monitor, halal products are becoming more popular with international manufacturers and suppliers, and an increasing preference for natural and organic products in the Middle East has seen the sector grow by 20 per cent last year.
recent report by the University of Malaysia Perlis revealed that as cosmetic companies begin to tap into this significant market, the segment, although noted as doing particularly well in the Middle East, is also growing on a global basis and is estimated worth between €5bn-€14bn.
The demand is said to be coming from increased consumer knowledge of the ingredients used in halal formulations and the way they are produced, while organic ingredient concepts are thought to be along the same principles.
1. Hallal Certification
Hallal is the priority to ensure our Muslim customers safety and convenience.
Warna sugars, Godavari sugars and also other leading groups of North India have gone for Hallal
certification seeing the growing market and to capture this segment of market with differentiation.
“How can sugar be Hallal? It is because there is no use of animal bones in the refining or bleaching
or colouring process while other companies use it”
Sugar consumption usually rises during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as families gather to break
their fast from dawn to sunset over festive meals. The Islamic world is rapidly going through a
paradigm shift as far as brands and consumerism are concerned.
As more and more companies look at expanding their footprints in the global Islamic market, which
accounts for around 23 per cent of the world’s population and is projected to grow to about 35 per
cent in the next 20 years, brand managers and marketing heads need to study and analyse the religion
that dictates so much of public life and its associated values.
Companies that fail to understand these few but essential tenets are unlikely to taste success in
markets. For instance, sports goods Major Nike had to recall a whole range of sports shoes for carrying
a logo that offended Islamic sentiments.
India is home to more than 175 million Muslims and has the third-largest community of Muslim
consumers in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan. But its market in regard to the choices of Hallal-
endorsed products among mainstream brands is still highly untapped. According to estimates by the
Pew Research group, Muslim population in India is projected to increase from 177.3 million in 2010
to 236.2 million in 2030. And the share of Muslims in India’s population is expected to increase
from 14.6% in 2010 to 15.9% in 2030.
More than one in ten of the world’s Muslims, 10.8%, will live in India in 2030, about the same as in
2010. Most Muslim households have middle-level expenditure abilities. Compared to rural Muslims,
counterparts in urban areas have better economic conditions. But the masses live in rural areas. The
percentage-wise distribution of urban Muslims annual per capita expenditure is 25 per cent for below
Rs 5,280, 47 per cent between Rs 5,281 and Rs 10,320, 22 per cent between Rs 10,321 and Rs 19,560
and 6 per cent above Rs 19,561 in 2004-05. For the same period, the annual per capita expenditure
for rural Muslims was below Rs 4,110 for 23 per cent, Rs 4,111 to Rs 5,790 for 32 per cent, Rs
5,791 to Rs 9,480 for 36 per cent and above Rs 9,481 for 9 per cent.
The majority of Muslims prefer to buy only Hallal-certified products. Further, an increased
awareness in recent years among Muslim consumers about what they see as religious obligations
has expanded the demand for Hallal items. Indian Muslims have 15 per cent share in the consumer
market, going by their population. But keeping the constraints of their economic conditions, it is
assumed that Muslim consumers have only 10 per cent share of the overall private consumption
expenditure of India. Based on the share of Muslims, the estimated consumption is shown in the
accompanying table.
2. Muslims are permitted to use products with vegetarian logos from India by default since these do not
contain Haram, the opposite of Hallal, elements. To certify that products are authentic Hallal, it is
necessary to regard the processed and contaminated products where the ambiguity of Haram
ingredients is high due to change in shape. It is pertinent to note that introduction of the Hallal tag
with conventional products is not an identity campaign for Muslims but only intends to include
Muslim consumers who might have been left out due to religious limitations.
If Asia is seeing the emergence of a new, modern Muslim consumer how best to reach them? On the
most basic level, more and more brands are ensuring their products meet Hallal certification in various
markets. This is understandable. The global Hallal industry was estimated by the World Hallal
Council to have been worth US$632 billion in 2009.
World's first Hallal certified sugar from India which contains no Islamically forbidden ingredients has
entered the Gulf region.Warana Sugar Gulf Trading, which is part of Warana Sugar (India), has unveiled
its Hallal certified sugar yesterday also announced plans to penetrate the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) market this year, immediately after launching in the UAE.GCC includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the
United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. In the Middle East, there is currently a shortage in
capacity of about 3 Million MT of sugar while the EU's consumption requirement is forecasted at about 2
million MT in the next 2-3 years.
Industry estimates published in 2009 revealed that the UAE's sugar consumption is at nearly 140,000
tonnes per year, calculated based on the annual per capita sugar consumption of 34 kilograms per
year, which is higher than the world average of 24 kilograms. The region's annual sugar consumption is
at 12 million tonnes, of which 8.5 million are imported.