Halal certified gelatin capsules made by Halagel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. PHOTO | TENGKU BAHAR | AFP PHOTO
What you need to know:
Artists, architects, drug makers to hoteliers court Muslim shoppers, but in Kenya emphasis has been on food and beverages.
In selected stores, retailers are offering discounts of up to 50 per cent on home appliances this Ramadhan season. So are supermarkets which are selling discounted food items, stores restocking latest abayas and restaurants offering new menus to court the Muslim consumer.
The beginning of Ramadhan marked the start of booming business and change of strategy. Villa Rosa Kempinski, Clay Oven and Crown Plaza are now offering iftar menus to break the fast. Others have lined up activities ahead of Idd-ul-Fitr next week.
Muslim-friendly trade is growing and it is not just in manufactured products. Technology firms, artists, architects, travel agents, fashion designers are wooing the halal consumer.
Many still underestimate the spending power of the halal consumer, but the burgeoning Islamic economy is growing at nearly double the global rate.
Muslim consumer spending on food and lifestyle has reached $1.8 trillion (Sh182 trillion) and is projected to hit $2.6 trillion (Sh260 trillion) in 2020, according to the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015.
Shoppers are looking beyond food, interest-free finance and now buy from halal aspirins to mouthwash. Malaysia’s halal economy is thriving, thanks to strategies in wooing leisure travellers and medical tourists with its women-only hospitals.
Brazil, New Zealand and other meat exporters are also profiting from the halal trade and Kenya is now playing catch-up.
Locally, emphasis has been on food and beverage with only one cosmetic firm applying for halal certification.
Factories
In Kenya, there is growing interest and demand for halal-certified products and services, making halal not just a religious obligation, but also a powerful market force.
Mgeni Hamisi, a food scientist at the Kenya Bureau of Halal Certification (KBHC), said halal is not just a religious issue, but a global symbol of quality assurance.
The bureau has certified 140 Kenyan companies so far. A majority are food processing firms, abattoirs, butcheries, kitchens, restaurants and a cosmetic company.
“All halal-certified companies can export goods to the Middle East countries,” she said.
The halal manufacturing industry is one of the fastest growing with the global market now estimated to be worth Sh20 trillion a year.
Depending on their location, retail outlets stock halal products depending on whether the area has a large Muslim population.
Travel
Ahmed Shiil of Tusmo Travel Tours and Cargo said some of his customers insist on flying with airlines that serve halal in-flight food and to stay in Muslim-friendly hotels.
“Airlines like Kenya Airways, Emirates and British Airways have halal menus that cater to Muslims, but one needs to request when booking,” said Mr Shiil.
Kenya has no halal-certified travel destination. But last year, at the World Halal Tourism Summit in Abu Dhabi, it marketed Lamu as a tourist destination for Muslims as it seeks to get a slice of Islamic spending on travel industry estimated at $142 billion (Sh250 billion).
The town’s population is predominantly Muslim and has Arabic artefacts that date back to the 12th century. The town has hosted Islamic festivals and has become a significant centre for the study of Islam and Swahili cultures.
Kitchens /restaurants
Halal kitchens are those that source food from halal-certified suppliers. Aga Khan University Hospital has such kitchens in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
Restaurants have either some of their branches or the entire chain certified. For example, all Kuku Foods Kenya outlets, local franchise holder for KFC, are certified, while Innscor has all its Galitos and Chicken Inn brands certified, but only a select few of the Pizza Inn branches deal with purely halal products.
The trend of having only a segment of products certified to cater for the Muslim community is not just in restaurants. For instance, Java Nyali is the only fully halal branch.
Abattoirs
Most abattoirs in Kenya have a Muslim who slaughters animals. KenChic, Kiserian Slaughter House and Maasai Ostrich Farm are a small sample of the halal-certified abattoirs.
Media & Technology
Technology has transformed religion with various apps. Hawa Mohammad said she use the Compass app to know the direction to face when praying. The Quran is also Ms Mohammed’s favourite app which has audio and written Koran verses in Arabic and English.
App developers are targeting the tech-savvy Muslims spending about Sh315 billion on Islamic media and recreation every year, according to the Global Islamic economy report.
Duas for children’s series is used in teach madrassa or at home. Hadiths collection is also a popular and contains stories of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).
The Muslim pro app is the most used especially during Ramadhan as it has accurate prayer times with audio and visual prayer notifications.
This app also gives a list of halal restaurants and mosque locations as well as a calendar to estimate the holy dates of Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-Ul-Adha.
Travellers can also use the Zahibah app which locates restaurants serving halal foods. InstaDeen, similar to Instagram is also a hit among Muslims.
Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics
These sectors account for $75 billion (Sh7.5 trillion) and $54 billion (Sh5.4 trillion) respectively in the halal economy. Muslim pharmaceuticals expenditure is expected to reach $110 billion (Sh11 trillion) in the next four years.
“There is use of ingredients in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics that can be toxic to humans, that should be a cause of concern for Muslims and is one of the many challenges to overcome,” says the report.
This field still remains unexplored locally, but is also expected to receive interest as media and the global economy support its growth.
