Halal Business, from selling food to strategic economic sector

[Hamza2424]

I'm afraid part of what you are witnessing is fake and part of the consumerism plague that plagues the global economy. Nowadays Islam is growing rapidly and the number of the followers of this peaceful religion is on the rise (despite the Western attempts to sully the name using their Takfiri proxies), so obviously this growing population requires "halal" stuff as well therefore the business that has formed to satisfy that.

Other than that I have to point out that historically Muslims have always been dominating the economic sector in a way. Muslims merchants have been fair and never "ripped their customers off". In fact Western historians write of their surprise when facing this phenomenon! For example whenever they bought something from a Bazaar from a Muslim they received more than what they'd paid for.

Specifically about, we have to remember that "halal" food has far better quality. It's not just a category of food, it is also the preparation of the food. For example preparing meat has a mechanism known as ذَبْح which prevents the animal's meat from going bad during the slaughter.

Propaganda is never going to stop, people who are fed lies all their lives will say there is no war in Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom from Avatar series. I used this example because I know they can understand it better haha.

Anyway, we all here know a thing or two about propaganda because crypto has made us paranoid, and now most of us here who have at least spent a year doubt everything and question multiple times instead of saying there is no war.

So bro, that's a separate thing, but for the food side, what I have seen as a Muslim obviously is that we don't worry about anything else but about food, on which I have seen no compromise. I have seen some drinking, but they would never touch pork haha, like really? Anyway, there are always people in every religion like this, but this always shocked me because they would never compromise on halal food.

[bhadz]

When we hear about halal business, many of us maybe think about halal food, but nowdays is halal business just about selling food?

These report* show that moslem consumption valuation on six halal sector (food, pharmacy, cosmetic, fashion, travel, media & recreation) reach USD 2.6 trillion on 2024 and a significant increase is even projected for the coming years, this valuation not include financial sector. Interesting fact I found that many non moslem country seriously developing halal business such as Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, Brazil, China, New Zealand, and UK.

I am aware of this "Halal certified" and I thought that it's only with the food since I went to many food bazaars and our muslim  would choose those stalls and food which are certified with that label. Now I know that it also includes other things that we consume and use.

We can conclude that halal also as economic opportunity and global trade opportunity. So, what your opinion, will non moslem country dominated as key player on this halal business sector with all their capabilities and capacities to penetrate global market. will these phenomenon turn to be geopolitical trade competition and industry by using regulation and standarization as non tariff trade barriers ?

I think so, since there are a lot of muslim globally. The non muslim country will also be a place for them to give the tourism sector a boost by having the Halal certification for every product they might take. Although in a political stand point, there can be some that don't see it as something to add for their economy and are denial about what it can contribute to boost their economic figures.

[kawetsriyanto]

We can conclude that halal also as economic opportunity and global trade opportunity. So, what your opinion, will non moslem country dominated as key player on this halal business sector with all their capabilities and capacities to penetrate global market. will these phenomenon turn to be geopolitical trade competition and industry by using regulation and standarization as non tariff trade barriers ?

You're right. It is also a potential sector to be developed in the future. People prefer halal commodity because people trust more with moslem. Nowadays people become smarter and more careful in choosing any product. So, they don't stick to certain products and they aren't easily influenced by the adds of the products. People more often choosing halal commodity means there is great quality of the products. By the way, I don't think we should be worried with this fact because it is purely a competition in trading field. There is no geopolitical issue here. 

[atookz]

When we hear about halal business, many of us maybe think about halal food, but nowdays is halal business just about selling food?

These report* show that moslem consumption valuation on six halal sector (food, pharmacy, cosmetic, fashion, travel, media & recreation) reach USD 2.6 trillion on 2024 and a significant increase is even projected for the coming years, this valuation not include financial sector. Interesting fact I found that many non moslem country seriously developing halal business such as Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, Brazil, China, New Zealand, and UK.

We can conclude that halal also as economic opportunity and global trade opportunity. So, what your opinion, will non moslem country dominated as key player on this halal business sector with all their capabilities and capacities to penetrate global market. will these phenomenon turn to be geopolitical trade competition and industry by using regulation and standarization as non tariff trade barriers ?

The last about the process of changing consumer moral values to be standardized commodities for business profit as market capitalization tool worth billions of dollars.

https://halalmui.org/global-halal-industry-ethical-sustainable/
https://salaamgateway.com/specialcoverage/SGIE25-26 *

Yes, I completely agree and the data supports it in the above post. The total spending for the six halal sectors (food, pharma, cosmetics, fashion, travel and media) reached US$2.6 trillion in 2024 and will hit US$3.56 trillion by 2029. When added to Islamic finance, which is expected to reach US$10 trillion, the total ecosystem is approaching US$13 trillion. The new report actually includes seven sectors, including Islamic finance.

Travel is the fastest growing segment (from US$249B to US$424B), with modest fashion being the second largest after food. When it comes to non-Muslim countries getting serious about this, it's very real: Malaysia's JAKIM has 56 certification bodies in 33 countries, Singapore and the UK have edged their way into the top 15 of the Islamic Economy Indicator, and ASEAN is planning to make halal certification a requirement from October 2026.

Most importantly, the industry is now moving toward a new concept of "halal economy sovereignty," which goes beyond demand and relates to the control of the value chain, trust infrastructure, and even financial systems.

So, to answer your question: Yes, there is definitely a trend in that direction. More and more countries are developing their own certification bodies (JAKIM, MUIS, CICOT, etc.) and if these standards aren't compatible with one another, they automatically become obstacles to products entering each other's markets. It functions much like a tariff, just disguised as technical regulation — more subtle, but with the same effect, giving the halal trade arena a distinctly geopolitical and increasingly competitive edge.

[#CapsLOck]

I believe standardisation might be one of the biggest problems for halal trade, particularly if it has to go through a number of markets. However, if there are slightly different requirements from country to country or by different certification bodies, companies will need to have to undertake re-audits, re-documentation and re-certification, costing businesses more. Meanwhile, establishing one standard is not easy as each authority will have different interpretations of the requirements. Instead of just churning out more halal products, the competitive edge may be gained by developing trusted international certification systems will become the norm. In this regard, the halal is capable of becoming a consumers market and a market industry that is based on standards.

[abhiseshakana]

Halal is a religious practice and it's a bit counter intuitive to business.

A good for business certification organisation would just give the stamp to anyone that pays. A religious butcher would want the stamp from the mufti himself. But the mufti shouldn't concern his person with business and monetary transactions as he is a religious figure.

So how does one claim that halal is a business opportunity? It's a bit contradictory to me.

If a real ethical organisation checks slaughterhouses to be more ethical and clean we all know what's gonna happen. Slaughter houses are horribly abusive to animals and don't want to change. Otherwise their model becomes more expensive to operate and less profitable. I don't think large scale farming and ethics go together. So I can't see this bering a business opportunity while keeping the ethics. It's hard to find a butcher that had his own meat in the cities anymore. It's all factory made where we know the ethics and treatment towards animals are horrible.

I think as long as there are demand there alwayse be market. market always create economic incentive for providing supply. Isn't it bussiness ? Halal business not selling religion but its provide product and services which meet specific consumer preferences and requirements. Simply said religion create consumer preference. Why certification and label are important because we as consumer can not see the whole production and distribution process, with certification and label reduce those uncertainty.

You can assume that many or mostly certification institution are corrupt not only halal certification, solution should be establishing credible governance, accreditation, audit, transparency, and law enforcement.

Animal welfare issue not automatically disputing the view of halal as an economic opportunity. So, the government duty are ensuring that religious standards, food safety, animal welfare, and business interests can coexist.

Non-Muslim country have already secured very strong position in global supply chain of halal market.

Currently there is no universally recognized system for Halal certification worldwide.
Bodies such as Malaysia’s JAKIM, Indonesia’s BPJPH, UAE’s ESMA and Gulf countries GSO have their own standard. Each has its own criteria and inspection processes and major issue is that they do not always mutually recognize one another. Hence, shipping country or firms must acquire different certificate for per market, which is definitely clunky process.

I think influence of non Muslim country in halal market will increase more in future.

I don't think if there are any differences between halal standard of each exporter and importer country there is no common foundation. Each country maybe have different additional technical requirements or additional legalize documents but i can surely said the core principle of halal remain largely the same such as permitted ingredients, prohibited substances, slaughtering procvess and ensuring no cross contamination. Each country halal certification issuing authority usually need recognition by destination country and of course these mutual recognition are mechanism to avoid asymetry information in global halal trade. Example such middle east country asked additional requirement of Signature of the Middle East Chamber of Commerce and Industry for all export documents.

Will moslem majority countries can develop competitive production capabilities while also establishing interoperable halal standards globally ?

I'm afraid part of what you are witnessing is fake and part of the consumerism plague that plagues the global economy.

I got your point and agree with your worriness but i separeted between consumerism and real genuine market demand drom the growth of moslem consumer which have preference for halal product, which bring business organically and religious value become commercial standard as basic market mechanism. I think on the some point halal develop becoming economic ecosystem regardless the initial motivation.

I am not sure that halal product has better quality automatically. Halal and quality are different thing even can support each other. Halal relates to compliance with specific requirements. Meanwhile quality in different dimension, its related to nutrition, food safety, sustainability, animal welfare. So halal has potential to be developed as global market standard with economic value.

[pooya87]

So bro, that's a separate thing, but for the food side, what I have seen as a Muslim obviously is that we don't worry about anything else but about food, on which I have seen no compromise. I have seen some drinking, but they would never touch pork haha, like really? Anyway, there are always people in every religion like this, but this always shocked me because they would never compromise on halal food.

What I like about Islam is that it is very logical and scientific. Most of it is already scientifically proven too (science hasn't caught up to the rest). Take fasting for example, something Muslims have been doing every year for 1400 years during the whole month of Ramadan. That is literally the natural cure for cancer (scientific term: Autophagy which is an orderly degradation and recycling of cellular components starting from dysfunctional or cancerous cells).

As for food, there is a solid reason behind all the teachings of Islam. Like what is categorized as Haram. Take alcohol for example. If you look up any diseases they categorize alcohol as one of the root causes and categorize those who consume it as high risk category. And that's just one of the reasons why it is haram.

[Filicius]

If you're a barbarian (not the clever kind) then halal food might be what you think about for starting a new business, yet most civilized people don't need to torture animals while killing them. The sooner Muslims moderate and stop these kind of disgusting practices that should have been kept in the stone age, the better quite frankly. It's a real shame that tolerating such practices often ends up in catering to the lowest common denominator and more food producers are doing this to capture a certain audience. Most intelligent developed countries have become less and less religious over the decades, but sadly religion is still able to infest and infect the world with it's backwards practices that are so inhumane. If business had more of a backbone it would stand up and reject such practices only encouraged by awful religions.

Dude, actually halal practice also accept reversible stunning as long as the animal is merely unconscious and not yet dead when slaughtered, if its dies from any stunning method before slaughter, meat becomes carrion, which is forbidden for consumption. You can search information about Halal slaughter procedure with its main purpose to make the animal did not have time to process the pain.  I think advancements in science and technoly which combined with human intellectual capacity, have enabled the discovery of scientific validation behind halal procedures.

After reading the previous comment, I was expecting precisely this answer, because it shows a lack of knowledge of the procedures and the purpose of the sacrifice, which as they explained to me at the time are designed precisely to avoid the pain of the animal. Not as it is still done in most of the West, where we slit the throats of pigs to bleed them in agony in life, for example.

Ignoring the fact that the business of certification sometimes resides simply in charging for granting the seal, which I hope is not always the case, and also ignoring religious reasons, I believe that the painless slaughter of animals should be a goal of all humanity, for ethical and empathy issues basically.

[kawetsriyanto]

What I like about Islam is that it is very logical and scientific. Most of it is already scientifically proven too (science hasn't caught up to the rest). Take fasting for example, something Muslims have been doing every year for 1400 years during the whole month of Ramadan. That is literally the natural cure for cancer (scientific term: Autophagy which is an orderly degradation and recycling of cellular components starting from dysfunctional or cancerous cells).

Indeed. Islam is logical and scientific because it is from the God. 
Sure, Ramadhan fasting is good because it is metabolic reset and it exercises our mentality. It isn't so surprising that it also can cure cancer. However, people who do Ramadhan fasting must also take attention with their foods and drinks. It must be healthy foods and drinks, too.

As for food, there is a solid reason behind all the teachings of Islam. Like what is categorized as Haram. Take alcohol for example. If you look up any diseases they categorize alcohol as one of the root causes and categorize those who consume it as high risk category. And that's just one of the reasons why it is haram.

You're right. Islam claims haram for certain foods or drinks must be with strong reasons. Most of them must bring harmful impacts to our body. The teachings of Islam want to ensure that we all consume proper foods/drinks.

[drangos]

I am interested to note that the concept of halal certification is not only a religious one. It can also indicate for some consumers traceability. Control of ingredients and a very clear production process. The value of the certification series is thus dependent on the credibility and reliability of the certification process. But where the standards are not compatible. Between different countries. Then certification can be a cost of the trade, not a benefit. International recognition of standards may be more important than just putting more halal certified products on the market.

[abhiseshakana]

However, it seems to me the growing trend right now is mainly based on strategic or consumerist factors and not necessarily on strict compliance or adherence to what's permissible or not under Islamic law.

I may be wrong but the impression it creates right now is that the certification has more or less become a hollow stamp like "all-natural", "purely organic", "non-UPF", "eco-friendly", "free range", and so forth.

Similar but not identical, in marketing term, yes commoditatization used to attract more modern consumer segment like eco friendly or organic trends, the differences lays on whether there is an authorized institution to regulate and issue it. Halal has  standardization certification which is a cross border technical regulation subject to legal audit and i think the process to get this label very strict equivalent to ISO or HACCP quality certification. I see it as global supply chain system controller treat it as a must physical quality standard.

Halal industry is an umbrella term. So it's kind of confusing to talk about unless you are referring to all those businesses in general.

Basically, if your bank gave you an interest-free account for your company, that is already a long way towards a halal business.

I wrote "a long way towards", because maybe there are some small details I am not aware of.

Let me reminder that halal business has different track with sharia economy. Non interest business funding choice doesn't have correlation and direct operational impact on physical product quality which produced. Multinational corporation on non moslem country such as thailand and  Brazil produce halal certified product and they fund their factory with conventional commercial loan. Talk about halal business just focused on product instrument specification and qualification including its quality assurance starting from its raw material, how it processed must not have cross contamination with non halal material and how to maintain and ensuring hygiene protocols.

Nowadays, the number of dishonest traders is high, because the price changes in an instant and people have a high desire for interest. If you can do halal business, then you can improve commercially more, because now the number of dishonest traders is high, and those who are related to interest have good business relationships, but their progress is much less. There is more progress in halal business, so in this case, if you can do halal business, then of course
In particular, proprietary businesses are more likely to be halal, and many proprietary businesses become unscrupulous traders because they create massive manipulations in the market. They create price differences in the market from different people for the purpose of making a little more profit, the day traders can hide themselves from all these activities, that day the state-approved halal businesses will have a greater reputation.

For solution we should be grateful to everyone who discovers digital technology today, with institutionalization of digital tracking standards and technologies, we can combat any bad practice from dishonest merchant / seller. I think when anything has its global ecosystem, system's engineer automatically implementing standardization protocols. The presence of official institutions and supply chain automation actually effective to eliminate room for human manipulation.

[Darker45]

However, it seems to me the growing trend right now is mainly based on strategic or consumerist factors and not necessarily on strict compliance or adherence to what's permissible or not under Islamic law.

I may be wrong but the impression it creates right now is that the certification has more or less become a hollow stamp like "all-natural", "purely organic", "non-UPF", "eco-friendly", "free range", and so forth.

Similar but not identical, in marketing term, yes commoditatization used to attract more modern consumer segment like eco friendly or organic trends, the differences lays on whether there is an authorized institution to regulate and issue it. Halal has  standardization certification which is a cross border technical regulation subject to legal audit and i think the process to get this label very strict equivalent to ISO or HACCP quality certification. I see it as global supply chain system controller treat it as a must physical quality standard.

I remember the day many years ago when my government announced that all motorcycle riders wearing helmets that don't have an official safety/quality sticker will be penalized. Days later, all helmets have stickers.

Ironically, I can only hope Halal's standardization certification won't be as strict as ISO or HACCP, or else it'd be as questionable. From where I am, both private and government institutions are boasting that they're ISO certified, something they achieved only by providing the auditors what ticks checkboxes and not by actually observing high standard in their day-to-day operations.

[ultrloa]

Similar but not identical, in marketing term, yes commoditatization used to attract more modern consumer segment like eco friendly or organic trends, the differences lays on whether there is an authorized institution to regulate and issue it. Halal has  standardization certification which is a cross border technical regulation subject to legal audit and i think the process to get this label very strict equivalent to ISO or HACCP quality certification. I see it as global supply chain system controller treat it as a must physical quality standard.

I remember the day many years ago when my government announced that all motorcycle riders wearing helmets that don't have an official safety/quality sticker will be penalized. Days later, all helmets have stickers.

Ironically, I can only hope Halal's standardization certification won't be as strict as ISO or HACCP, or else it'd be as questionable. From where I am, both private and government institutions are boasting that they're ISO certified, something they achieved only by providing the auditors what ticks checkboxes and not by actually observing high standard in their day-to-day operations.

Those certification coming from HACCP and ISO is supposed to give guarantee that the product have nice quality then guaranteed safe. But unfortunately in practice this became just an checkbox, rather than implement its real purpose.

I think it same risk might be applied to the Halal certification and if they became so bureaucratic, people might just do a shortcut and they might just chase to get a paper. Rather than following its real principle.

People need to know that credibility sometimes cannot be measured by certificate or the stickers they put there, but rather this is all about if they meet those standards and can make sure that everything is safe to use or consume by people.

[Wind_FURY]

These report* show that moslem consumption valuation on six halal sector (food, pharmacy, cosmetic, fashion, travel, media & recreation) reach USD 2.6 trillion on 2024 and a significant increase is even projected for the coming years, this valuation not include financial sector. Interesting fact I found that many non moslem country seriously developing halal business such as Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, Brazil, China, New Zealand, and UK.

We can conclude that halal also as economic opportunity and global trade opportunity.

Shower thought, and in that context, doesn't it make you a little cynical that "Halal" is being used as a marketing strategy to sell their goods and services as something "better" because it's "Halal"?

  🤔

[noorman0]

However, it seems somewhat unfair for some to object based solely on a single perspective, specifically, the method of animal slaughter. When viewed from a global perspective, every Muslim country has its own distinctive halal cuisine, including dishes that are meat-free or free from pork-derived ingredients. I wonder if there are groups who are skeptical of halal food. In fact, I believe that the absence of such a label would actually act as a barrier for local Muslim consumers or travelers who simply wish to try the food at a particular establishment.

[püsür]

I didn't even know there is halal pharmacy, travel, fashion sectors exactly. I'm not even sure how halal pharmacy can work other than regular pharmaceuticals. But if there is demand, there should be supply. That is just smart. It is interesting to see halal businesses developing in the non-muslim countries. I mean, eastern asian countries such as Japan and Korea are usually developing these for the tourists. THere must be quite a number of tourists then, requiring these businesses. Even if you do not believe in or respect these concepts, you can still operate as a business and make a profit. And it seems that these sectors will continue to grow and profits will increase. I mean I knew the restaurant concept but others, I didn't know exactly. Halal sectors in New Zealand.... That is something very interesting.

[Juse14]

Halal is a religious practice and it's a bit counter intuitive to business.

A good for business certification organisation would just give the stamp to anyone that pays. A religious butcher would want the stamp from the mufti himself. But the mufti shouldn't concern his person with business and monetary transactions as he is a religious figure.

So how does one claim that halal is a business opportunity? It's a bit contradictory to me.

If a real ethical organisation checks slaughterhouses to be more ethical and clean we all know what's gonna happen. Slaughter houses are horribly abusive to animals and don't want to change. Otherwise their model becomes more expensive to operate and less profitable. I don't think large scale farming and ethics go together. So I can't see this bering a business opportunity while keeping the ethics. It's hard to find a butcher that had his own meat in the cities anymore. It's all factory made where we know the ethics and treatment towards animals are horrible.

I've seen in big countries slaughtering livestock using machines on a large scale to speed up the slaughter, and ethically in islam it is not worth saying halal because there must be an ethic of slaughter, so it will certainly be very difficult for large companies to do that, but it will not be a problem for some muslim consumers who are strong in their faith, they better pay for expensive meat that has been managed properly in accordance with the ethics that they claim to guide their lives, but certainly the orientation of the company is not like that.

actually, it will not be a problem when the demand is large enough and can be calculated, the price is a little expensive, much better for those who like halal meat.

[Iamgoat]

We can conclude that halal also as economic opportunity and global trade opportunity. So, what your opinion, will non moslem country dominated as key player on this halal business sector with all their capabilities and capacities to penetrate global market. will these phenomenon turn to be geopolitical trade competition and industry by using regulation and standarization as non tariff trade barriers ?

You're right. It is also a potential sector to be developed in the future. People prefer halal commodity because people trust more with moslem. Nowadays people become smarter and more careful in choosing any product. So, they don't stick to certain products and they aren't easily influenced by the adds of the products. People more often choosing halal commodity means there is great quality of the products. By the way, I don't think we should be worried with this fact because it is purely a competition in trading field. There is no geopolitical issue here. 

Halal commodity is a good selling point for any business person or investor whether the seller is a Muslim or not, such does not have anything to do with the audience you are selling to and the nature of the product you are selling. You must not have to be testing the food yourself but ensure you have a second in command who will do the testing on your behalf. The Muslim world are supposed to take only the halal commodities as their food will be your food to be prepared and they will be your target after wards.

[Darker45]

~snip~

I remember the day many years ago when my government announced that all motorcycle riders wearing helmets that don't have an official safety/quality sticker will be penalized. Days later, all helmets have stickers.

Ironically, I can only hope Halal's standardization certification won't be as strict as ISO or HACCP, or else it'd be as questionable. From where I am, both private and government institutions are boasting that they're ISO certified, something they achieved only by providing the auditors what ticks checkboxes and not by actually observing high standard in their day-to-day operations.

Those certification coming from HACCP and ISO is supposed to give guarantee that the product have nice quality then guaranteed safe. But unfortunately in practice this became just an checkbox, rather than implement its real purpose.

I think it same risk might be applied to the Halal certification and if they became so bureaucratic, people might just do a shortcut and they might just chase to get a paper. Rather than following its real principle.

People need to know that credibility sometimes cannot be measured by certificate or the stickers they put there, but rather this is all about if they meet those standards and can make sure that everything is safe to use or consume by people.

This is what I'm afraid might happen if Halal becomes so strategic and mainstream. It might just turn into another seal taken advantage by huge investors and companies. In the first place, they don't necessarily share the beliefs and principles behind it. They may not be practicing Moslems themselves. They're just plain businessmen who see the consumerist opportunity in the trend.

If many stores and malls and shops around the world only accept products that are Halal certified, there might develop a tendency that it becomes another Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) license. Companies obtain it despite not sharing with the advocacy, despite not practicing what it requires. The only driving factor is the market, sales, profit.

[Wind_FURY]

We can conclude that halal also as economic opportunity and global trade opportunity. So, what your opinion, will non moslem country dominated as key player on this halal business sector with all their capabilities and capacities to penetrate global market. will these phenomenon turn to be geopolitical trade competition and industry by using regulation and standarization as non tariff trade barriers ?

You're right. It is also a potential sector to be developed in the future. People prefer halal commodity because people trust more with moslem. Nowadays people become smarter and more careful in choosing any product. So, they don't stick to certain products and they aren't easily influenced by the adds of the products. People more often choosing halal commodity means there is great quality of the products. By the way, I don't think we should be worried with this fact because it is purely a competition in trading field. There is no geopolitical issue here. 

Halal commodity is a good selling point for any business person or investor whether the seller is a Muslim or not, such does not have anything to do with the audience you are selling to and the nature of the product you are selling. You must not have to be testing the food yourself but ensure you have a second in command who will do the testing on your behalf. The Muslim world are supposed to take only the halal commodities as their food will be your food to be prepared and they will be your target after wards.

OK, here's something I would like to ask EVERYONE, my fellow PLEBS, in the topic,

A simple question - If a product is marketed as "Halal", does that actually mean it's a better product? OR is it currently used merely as a marketing "gimmick" to convince people that the product is "better"?