Bridging the market gap: Halal food

Non-Muslim Filipinos may not have noticed, but the country's recent engagement in the global halal market is an opportunity to bridge the gap among Muslims and non-Muslims, and for businesses to profit as well.

"Halal" is the Islamic term that refers to anything acceptable to the Muslim faith. In business, the word "halal" is often associated with food products which are served without any of the forbidden ingredients in Islam, primarily pork.

Halal around the world

Globally, the halal market is a flourishing one. Its market value is pegged at US$547 billion (P25.3 trillion) annually and it has a 12 percent share in the global trade of agricultural food products.

The halal market in the global North has dramatically surged, with American and European halal annual market sales at US$12 billion (P555 billion) and 15 billion euros (P966 billion), respectively. In fact, non-Muslim Dutch are said to prefer Halal foods “on the basis of the belief that such products are safe.” This breaks the myth that Muslim consumers are concentrated mainly in Arab nations and Southeast Asian countries, and the eagerness of the Global North for halal products reaping fruits.

Halal in the Philippines

In the Philippines, the halal market is considerably substantial. About 14 percent of the country's population is Muslim, according to Islamicweb.com. Muslims from Mindanao have flocked northwards to either seek greener pastures or to flee from conflict-ridden areas; thus the Filipino Muslim market has widened and the demand for halal products throughout the country increased.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has even projected that the Philippine halal industry will “grow to P500 billion in 2010.”

“The Department of Trade and Industry said that companies are now discovering that the halal industry is a big market,” said NEDA Director for policy and planning Dennis Arroyo in Livehalal.com, adding that engagement in the halal market may help the country cope with the global financial crisis, considering the Philippines' close trade ties with Arab and Southeast Asian nations, which are predominantly Muslim.

Aside from international trade, the Philippines' domestic agriculture provides a conducive environment for the proliferation of the halal market. According to the Department of Agriculture, “the Philippines has a comparative advantage over other neighboring countries when it comes to developing its fledgling halal industry especially now that both the Visayas and Mindanao regions have already been declared and recognized by the... World Animal Health Organization as free from the foot-and-mouth disease and bird flu.” The local poultry and cattle industry will also benefit from the halal market, considering Islam's ban on pork and pork-based products.

Going Halal

As of 2009, more or less 200 Philippine companies have been accredited as halal, noted pinoybusiness.org. "The halal industry is growing locally and globally. These companies see this trend and want to get a chunk of the halal market, that is why we have these many applications," said Islamic Daw'ah Council of the Philippines (IDCP) president Abdul Rahman Linzag on islamonline.net. IDCP is the biggest halal accrediting body in the Philippines.

He also added that the Supreme Court last 2003 allowed halal accreditation to be supervised by “purely religious” bodies like IDCP, since halal is a religious doctrine. Malacanang earlier mandated the government body Office of Muslim Affairs with giving halal accreditation but was questioned by the IDCP due to the constitutional provision of separation of church and state.

Moreover, a number of halal restaurants catering to more affluent diners are flourishing in Metro Manila. According to the blog annalyn.net, “there is certainly much demand for places offering halal food.” The blog site cautioned though that Muslims must take it easy eating in fast food chains that were “misunderstood as halal in the Philippines” such as Pizza Hut, KFC, and McDonald's.

A Halal Economic Zone was recently established in Davao, which hosts a halal poultry farm and research facilities.

Serving Halal

Though it is general knowledge that pork is forbidden in Islam, entrepreneurs thinking of going into the halal market must be aware that there are standards and rules other than “no pork” that must be considered in manufacturing or serving halal goods.

Basically, all types of vegetables and seafoods are halal, except for “poisonous and intoxicating plants,” according to pinoybusiness.org. Other than pork, animal meat that are not considered halal are that of animals with “claws and fangs, some reptiles like snakes, contaminated and dead animals, frogs and other [amphibians] that live both in land and in water, centipedes, scorpions and the like [arachnids], insects and pest like rats, birds like vultures and eagles, fox, dogs, monkeys, donkeys, tigers, cats, lions, [and] elephants.” Additives and seasoning that are based on these products are also forbidden in Islam. Faithandfood.com also said that Islam forbids blood in food products and that there is a “prescribed Islamic way” in slaughtering animals.

Halal also applies to non-food products which are animal-based, like textile, footwear, and furniture, which are likewise subjected to Halal scrutiny.

Faith, above all

According to Linzag, though non-Muslim people appreciate halal food products as “healthier” than non-halal products, halal accreditation “is not from a health perspective alone but from an Islamic view.”

The halal industry looks to be a lucrative one, but profits are not the only benefit it offers. The industry bridges the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims and has introduced a new dimension in food preparation, which most Muslims and non-Muslims find healthy and delectable.

Most of all the halal industry opens avenues toward a better understanding of and respect for the Islamic faith which, at the end of the day, is the core essence of Halal.

Photo: “Chinese Food” by Shahid Sarker, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.

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