Jami Moiz Assistant Professor Department of Marketing & Centre for Entrepreneurial Development - CED Institute of Business Administration IBA Karachi February 23rd, 2013
A Global Halal Conference was held on March 22, 2011, in Karachi, Pakistan, in collaboration with Halal Development Corporation of Malaysia. The aim of this conference was to discover Pakistan s Halal Potential, to quote the website of the same conference. Some of the major topics covered at this conference as per their website were: Brand Halal International Market Size Where to find Halal Customers World Muslim Population Pakistani Market Size Power of Halal Global Halal Players Halal Opportunities
Not much has changed since.. BUT our understanding of the opportunities has!
The word Halal denotes food that is allowed for consumption as per Islamic guidelines However, due to growing awareness about the health benefits attached to halal meat (meat prepared the halal way), we can safely attach an economic value to this phenomenon This economic phenomenon and its value, both are increasing year by year Reason: demand for halal food is increasing even in non-muslim consumer circles (due to the health benefits)
Growing number of Muslim consumers It is expected that by 2025, the Muslim population will amount to approximately 1 billion, which would be 30% of the world population (HalalFocus.com) Increasing number of Muslim consumers who are more learned, richer than in previous times, and more travelled than before they are more aware Growing demand for halal products Toothpaste Shampoo Clothing and even cosmetics!
Pakistan s Disappointment With Halal Why Pakistan failed to capture the halal market: Lack of awareness of the scope of the word and concept of halal Lack of Halal branded items Lack of focused entrepreneurial ventures in this field Lack of Halal Certification Authority
Reference to IBA BBA-Entrepreneurship Tap into the labor pool of regular butchers (for collaboration with Thailand s entrepreneurs) Training of and collaborations with retailers selling packaged meat (eg. Meat1) We could develop a Pakistani Halal Certification Authority at par with International Halal Certification authorities For instance in North America, since there are only about 1000 Halal certified products, the Muslims there buy Kosher items (there are around 86,000 certified Kosher products available here!) In North America, thus, for every Halal product/item/brand, there are 86 Kosher products to choose from!
International Market size = 2.1 trillion US dollars per annum We can create awareness that halal is not a concept restricted to meat alone, but that it is a concept applicable to all food BRANDING OPPORTUNITIES: We need to label our halal products with the Halal logo African and Chinese Muslims did not buy Pakistani food items because they did not have the halal logo on them This is despite the fact that any food item Pakistan exports can be safely assumed to be halal because Pakistan is a Muslim country However, there lies our attitude of taking things for granted for the sake of the customer, we need to highlight that which we know and they might not
Furthering the concept, we could go into food available anywhere: Airline meals School canteens Office canteens Hotels and restaurants Catering services wedding services corporate dinners Other categories: Shampoos, facewash and other toiletries Healthcare products such as medicines etc Make-up
European markets have Halal mini supermarkets Other European markets have supermarkets with segments on halal items Largest Halal players in the global market include USA, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France Thailand
Thailand s success we can replicate The Halal Standard Institute of Pakistan an opportunity! The Halal Science Centre, Chulalongkon University an opprtunity! Trade fairs Partnerships with Thailand Joint exports Trade agreements regarding sharing of markets with respect to meat categories Co-branding and shared branding avenues Entrepreneurship Train suppliers of meat (seminars, conferences, workshops etc) Provide them with a platform to showcase their brands