The halal opportunity in Indonesia

Indonesia’s emerging middle-class numbers between 30 and 40 million and, as in other Asian economies, has money to spend and a growing appetite for a western-style diet.

Dairy products and meat are already significant earners for New Zealand in Indonesia, accounting for more than 53 percent of exports to what recently became our latest $1 billion market.

When you think Muslim countries, Indonesia should be one of the first to spring to mind, says NZTE’s trade commissioner Grant Fuller.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and that means big opportunities for providing halal-certified food and beverages, ingredients and natural products.

While halal meat from New Zealand has been finding its way onto dinner plates around the world for 30 years, Fuller says there is a lack of knowledge about what exactly constitutes halal.

It’s not just about how you slaughter meat but assurances that products have not been mixed, contaminated or kept in touch with non-halal meat – and that includes during transportation, storage and display. Also, no alcohol has been used in food and beverage preparation.

There is no standardised global certification system, although New Zealand has a number of agencies whose seal of approval is accepted around the world including the Federation of Islamic associations of New Zealand (www.fianz.co.nz).

Fuller says NZTE has been researching the potential to supply halal-certified products into global markets and describes it as a consumer lifestyle choice with potential to explode.

“Globally, the market for halal products is growing rapidly and Indonesia has neighbours, like Malaysia, that are taking a lead in this area with initiatives like the Halalmart retail concept and supplying halal product to Tesco.

While small and medium-sized New Zealand companies may be daunted by issues around certification and marketing of halal products, Fuller says the size of the opportunity in Indonesia is too big to ignore.

“Muslims make up 88 percent of the population in Indonesia – capturing even a small part of the market is a very attractive option for a Kiwi company.”

This article originally appeared as ‘Halal opportunities’ 
in Bright magazine on April / May 2009. Issue 33.

More information:

www.fianz.co.nz