Become Halal Food Choice in Europe

In the midst of a request from among the Muslims and non-Muslims are similar to kosher food, has made it a top choice in Europe with more supermarket chains are now offering Shariah-standard food.

"We're starting to see this kind of food not only for certain stores, but also began giving it to the big retailers," said Frits van Dijk, executive vice president of Nestle, one of the world's largest food company told Reuters.

He added that Nestle has begun selling halal meat and frozen foods in France.

According to Van Dijk that the famous British supermarket Tesco and Carrefour France has also been offering halal food products in their outlets.

Milk powder, cookware, kitchen condiments and sauces are among the halal products are very popular in Europe today.
Van Dijk who was attending the World Halal Forum in Den Hague November 17 to 18 hope that the business of halal food products will grow 20 to 25% in the next decade.

Further with the Muslim population reaches 25% of world population, is a huge market for companies to offer world-class standards of halal products.


Overall, the European halal food market is currently worth around USD 66 billion, including meat, fresh and frozen foods, while at the global level of value reached USD 634 billion.

The concept of halal has traditionally applied to the food. But now, objects and other services were also certified kosher, including beverages, cosmetics, clothing, pharmaceuticals, and financial services.

Executive Vice President of Nestle said the growing demand for halal food from Muslim and non-Muslims.

"Twenty percent of the world population will one day be made ​​up of Muslims and they have expectations and needs," he explained.

"If they want to feel confident that what they eat and drink in accordance with their beliefs, then a company like ours has to try harder to meet those needs."

Nestle is a leading halal food producer in the world, selling around USD 5.23 billion halal food in 2008, 5% of revenue per year.

Halal food market companies, among others, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and Middle East countries.

France, Britain, and Germany are now beginning to emerge as a major halal markets in Europe.

Nestle plans to begin offering a series of supermarkets in Switzerland halal products in early 2010.

"We see a strong demand from retailers to expand their ethnic product of choice, and this is a pillar of growth we want to continue to make focused," says Alexander Klein, manager of Nestle.

About 85 of 456 globally Nestle factory has now been certified kosher, but Van Dijk says that the standard interpretations of halal different around the world is a challenge for this industry.

Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is currently working on a single standard to be applied to the 57 member states, a move that will further grow the kosher food industry.

Posted in: Culinary News,Food News