Within a short period of time we had the Eblex HALAL Forum and the World Halal Summit (WHS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These two events not only demonstrated the growing importance of the HALAL industry, but also showed that there will be increasing risks without the correct marketing and participation strategies deployed.

HALAL gives the world a huge market—23% of the world's population is Muslim—yet many marketers surprisingly treat them as a homogeneous unit. What emerged from the WHS was the demand to harmonize HALAL standards, but it was acknowledged that, due to different priorities and emphases, this is a very difficult task. To understand why, we need only consider the standards of different organizations across Europe—what one body considers unacceptable. This is the key issue with HALAL standards, meaning it is even more important to truly understand what your customers want and what is suitable for your application.

What is not appreciated by many is how widely the market business can progress. The overhead costs are cheap and the cost to the end consumer is increasingly low, even adding certification and audit costs. This industry needs to be on the front foot, rather than falling into a passive state.

First, it needs to lobby the government to allow demonstration activities of reversibly-stunned HALAL animals, as in New Zealand, in order to guarantee the segmentation of the HALAL market—stunning that does not cause the death of the animal, a basic HALAL standard. Specific controls can be implemented under OV (official veterinarian) supervision to ensure the process is not abused.

Second, those enterprises that slaughter animals without stunning need to develop and deploy best practices to limit and reduce welfare activists' concerns about the number of slaughters and the beating of animals, with continuous improvement. What has recently appeared in front of most welfare bodies' cameras is the systematic problem of pre-slaughter handling, where animals were not stunned before slaughter. Interestingly, the leaked video was of a week-long routine pre-stun slaughter process and clearly contained less emotion and fewer reports.

MIS-stunning realities need to be minimized, but these existing records are not enough. The bottom line is to improve practices, understand your market, find the right products, the right customers and convey the right message, and hopefully everyone benefits through the supply chain.

FAQ

Why can't the HALAL market be treated as a homogeneous unit?
Because although about 23% of the world's population is Muslim, constituting a huge market, the standards of different organizations vary, with different priorities and emphases—what one body considers acceptable, another may not. This is precisely the key issue with HALAL standards, meaning enterprises need all the more to truly understand what their customers want and which standards are suitable for their application.
What practices and considerations are there regarding 'stunning' in HALAL slaughter?
Some enterprises lobby the government to allow reversible stunning (reversibly-stunned, as in New Zealand) to guarantee the basic HALAL standard that stunning does not cause the death of the animal, and this can be ensured to be free of abuse under official veterinarian (OV) supervision; while for enterprises that slaughter animals without stunning, they need to develop and deploy best practices to reduce welfare concerns. The key is to improve practices, understand the market, and match the right products and customers.