Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center in Bali Goes ‘Halal’

Underlining the growing role of the Indonesian domestic market, now estimated to represent nearly 60% of all visitors to Bali, a leading four-star property in the capital city of Denpasar has obtained Halal Certification from the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI).

Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center is a 300-key condominium style hotel offering the largest conference and convention hotel in Denpasar with a conference hall capable of accommodating up to 2,000 people.
Halal Certification – means the kitchen, food preparations, supply chains and menus of the hotel have all been inspected and certified to confirm to strict requirements for compliance with Islamic dietary traditions.
While “Halal Certification” is still very rare on Bali where the predominant religion is Hinduism, the move by the Aston Denpasar Hotel may provide a distinct advantage to the property in securing domestic Indonesian groups and lucrative government meetings and seminars.

Shown on Balidiscovery.com the General Manager, Irmansjah Mahdewa, receiving the hotel Halal certification from the MUI and a group picture of the hotel’s senior staff marking the occasion.

USA: 10 Facts about the Muslim Consumer

The total global Muslim population is 1.6 billion, around 25% of the world’s population today.  It’s expected to be nearly 50% of world population by 2050 if it continues to outpace global population growth by 1.5x-2x.  The Muslim household on average is around 5 people per family compared to the United States at 2.6 people.
2.  The typical Muslim demographic is younger.  For example, in the Middle East, North Africa and the South Asian region, the focal geography of SM Advisory Group, almost 50% of the population is under the age of 25. Furthermore with a rising middle class and adoption of modern and urban trends the consumption potential is very attractive for decades to come.
3.  The global shariah-compliant market is more than $2 trillion annually. This includes all products and services that a Muslim community would be a natural consumer of and includes halal food as well as Islamic banking.
4.  The halal food market is approximately $632 billion or 16% of the global food industry.  This already being a significant portion but also take into account the exponential growth rate of Muslims, therefore one can predict that the halal food industry will also grow to meet the needs of this booming population.
5.  The Islamic finance market is estimated at $1 trillion. Islamic funds are only around $55 billion worldwide compared to conventional market at $22 trillion therefore as Islamic finance matures the upside to raising new capital and expanding the Islamic banking universe is significant.
6.  US Muslims alone have a buying power of around $200 billion or $25,000 per capita. If the average Muslim population reaches even one fourth of the US Muslim consumer, spending level the global Muslim consumer spending would be around $10 trillion annually.
7.  According to a recent gallup study, Muslim Americans have the least amount of income disparity between the genders.  The Muslim American community also happens to be the most ethnically diverse.
8. Muslims account for 16% of the $100 billion Kosher market because of limited halal products, therefore just as a starting point there appears to be an established $16 billion food market in the US ripe for halal food manufacturers.
9.  Ad spending in the Arab world is $6 per capita compared to North America at $369, Europe $117, Asia $23 and Africa $7, hence for marketers and advertising firms there is an untapped market completely.
10. Nestle is one of the largest halal food manufacturers with halal sales of more than $5 billion.  75 out of 481 Nestle factories produce halal food worldwide. Halal food is approximately 5% of Nestle’s sales.  As companies look to take advantage of growth in the Muslim consumer market it is quite likely that they focus on bespoke marketing on everything from pharmaceuticals to insurance and baby formula.

Tesco adds seven ranges to ethnic line-up

Tesco has dramatically beefed up its ethnic food offering with the launch of seven new ranges.
The supermarket giant is adding specialist Turkish, Sri Lankan, Latin, Filipino, African, South African and Greek-Cypriot ranges to a roster that already includes Asian, Oriental, Afro-Caribbean, Kosher, Polish, and Halal foods.
The new ranges will debut at the Tesco Extra stores in Wembley and Slough before being extended across the UK.
Tesco said it had doubled the number of ethic foods in the past year to 1,600 lines, while volumes had grown by more than a third (35%) over the period.
“Britain is one of the most ethnically diverse nations on earth and there is a very strong, growing demand from people who have settled here to buy food from their homelands,” said Tesco ethnic food buyer Muhammad Rahman.
“In just four years our Polish range has developed from just 20 products in 2006 to 260 and from being sold initially in 100 stores to nearly 600 now.”
He added: “There is also a natural curiosity from shoppers to try other cuisines – especially with interesting-looking sauces, condiments, vegetables, tinned products and sweets

MoU signed Between Halal Research Council and Malaysia

The ceremony held during International Conference on Halal Industry at Expo Centre Lahore and Zubair Mughal, CEO, Halal Research Council Pakistan and Haji Abdul Malik Kassim, State Minister for Religious Affairs & Domestic Trade Penang- Malaysia

Lahore (Press Release) “International Conference on Halal Industry” was organized today at Expo Centre, Lahore – Pakistan. The conference was inaugurated by Haji Abdul Malik Kassim, State Minister for Religious Affairs, Domestic Trade & Consumer Affair Penang Govt.- Malaysia in which speakers and researchers from America, Australia, U.A.E., Romania, U.K. and South Africa participated to deliver their valuable knowledge& Research about Halal Industry. The point of interest was the MoU signing ceremony between Halal research Council and Malaysia for the promotion of Halal industry, the establishment of Halal Industrial Park, the easy availability of Pakistani Halal products in Malaysian market and the exhibition of Pakistani Halal certified products in Malaysian market.

Addressing to the audience, Haji Abdul Malik Kassim, Religious Affairs, Domestic Trade & Consumer Affair Penang Govt.- Malaysia said that the MoU signing is a very significant occasion. He further added that Halal food market is very rapidly increasing market and Malaysia is playing a momentous role in this regard. During the occasion, Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief executive Office, Halal Research Council, Pakistan said that the MoU will prove to be a bridge between Pakistan and Malaysian market through which we will be able to brand our products on International platforms. He said that the main purpose of this conference is to introduce Pakistan among international market so that it could play its technical & Shariah role in this highly distinguished market of more that one trillion dollars worth.

Many national and international speakers delivered their valuable research works and speeches on this international conference in which Haji Bill Yahya Ibrahim Aossey, Founder and Senior Director, Regional Representative Islamic services Of America America, Engr. Shaukat Hussain, Director General, Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), Islamabad, Pakistan. Mr. Alaa Kamal, Regional Representative, Of Islamic Service of America Dubai, Dr Muhammad M Khan, Food Technologist, (Canada), Executive Director, Halal Australia Halal Consultant Australia, Mr.Dorin Ecea, Development of the Halal Industrial Park, Halal Assets Council in Romania, Romania, Haji Abdul Malik Kassim, Minster of Religious Affairs, Penang- Malaysia, Mr.Hamid Ahmad, Halal Slaughter and Animal Welfare, Ex-Principal Scientific Officer, Biotech. and Food Research Centre, Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR), Lahore, Dr.Hamid Talil, Chief Executive officer, Lahore Meat Company, Lahore, Dr.Shazad Afzal, Director, Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of Pakistan, Lahore, Dr. Zubair Usmani, Shariah Advisor, MCB Limited. Pakistan, Capt. M. Jamil Akhtar Khan, Managing Director, Universal Insurance Company, Mr.Raheel Iqbal, Chief Executive Officer, Halal Industry Research Centre, Karachi-Pakistan. Prof. Dr. Faqir M. Anjum, Director General, National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad- Pakistan, Prof. Dr. Javaid A Awan, Country Director, Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America, Dr .Shahid Raza, Chairman, Bio world Forum. Pakistan, Mr. Mashood Ahmed Siddiqui, Manager products, Vectra foods, Karachi-Pakistan, Dr. Muhammad Jamil Khattak, Chairman Department of Microbiology & Biotechnology Kohat University, Pakistan and other speakers participated their thoughts on Halal Industry, Halal Food, Halal Tourism, Halal Slaughtering and Halal Banking etc. It is to note that Halal Research Council is an organization working nationally and internationally on Halal certification and accreditation, research and education.