Global Muslim spending on food and beverages in total was estimated to be $1,127 billion in 2014, accounting for ~17% of global expenditure, with spending expected to grow by ~6% per annum to reach $1,585 billion in 2020. This collective market is larger than the food and beverage consumption of China, the United States, Japan, and India, all of which account for the four largest countries globally in terms of food and beverage expenditure.

The global halal food market is estimated at $795 billion, extrapolating global estimates provided by the U.S. Halal Association for 2010.3 Analyzing the overall food and beverage consumption by country, we find that the top five countries by the market are Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, and Egypt. Of these, Indonesia and Turkey provide significant upside given the increasing awareness of Halal certification as well as overall upward trends in consumption.

Certification is key to halal manufacturers credibly marketing halal products to Muslim consumers. There are over 300 certifiers globally, leading to a wide range of standards. However, there has been a recent focus on certification for Halal meat, particularly in OIC countries, to create a global standard. This has been exacerbated by several high-profile incidents across the world where companies were found to have falsely labeled products as “Halal”. To take advantage of the growing importance of and scrutiny on halal compliance, there are significant opportunities for suppliers to develop best practices and differentiate their production processes.