MONTREAL - A growing appetite for halal products around the globe has prompted the Canadian government to encourage businesses to taste the market for these foods.
Canada has so far failed to make much of an impression in the international market for products that respect Islamic dietary laws - also known as halal.
Yet Ottawa estimates the halal industry to be worth between US$500 billion and $2 trillion worldwide.
Now government trade experts and industry insiders alike are warning Canadian businesses they can ill afford to ignore the demographic trends feeding increasing demand for halal and kosher products.
“There’s a few people around the edges that think there is something here and, without getting crazy, we’re trying to do some stuff,” said James Hannah, a senior international market officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
“We think there is an opportunity and what we’re trying to do is educate some of our companies,” he said while adding there is some catching up to do. “It’s a question of just trying to work along and try and get our act together at Agri-Food Canada.”
Canada accounted for only $996 million of the $53 billion in global food exports to the 19 major halal markets in 2006. Some fear the country’s food producers risk being squeezed out of an increasingly crowded market.
“For companies who want to benefit, the time is now,” said Ehsan Sairally, co-ordinator of the Islamic Society of North America’s halal-certification program.
“In the United States and Dubai, people are moving very aggressively in marketing halal, but in Canada we’re still a little bit slow.”
Many businesses that have shifted toward certified halal and kosher production processes have noticed the results.
Quebec-based Ecolait Ltd., for example, has become one of North America’s leading veal producers since it began producing halal meat in 2001. Its annual sales now exceed $200 million, with 60 per cent of sales coming from outside Canada.
Another Quebec-based company, pharmaceutical firm
Duchesnay, is hoping to mimic Ecolait’s success by being among the first to develop a multivitamin supplement for pregnant women that is both kosher and halal. Duchesnay spent two years developing its product after research showed a huge demand among religious minorities for supplements that respect their religious dietary restrictions.
“I have to admit, it was harder than I thought,” said Duchesnay vice-president Eric Gervais.
The development phase involved coming up with a way to make the supplements without gelatin that is pork-based. But turning to certain types of fish was out of the question as many are not considered kosher.
Duchesnay would also have to reapply for certification if it changed suppliers for any of the 27 active and inactive ingredients in the supplements.
“The risk is also quite large,” Gervais said.
But if he is confident his company will recoup its investment, it’s not because of the size of the Canadian market, which remains relatively small.
“For us the return on investment is not only in offering the supplements in Canada, it’s in exporting the expertise that we developed in making these multivitamins abroad,” he said from the company’s headquarters in Laval, north of Montreal.
With around eight million Muslims in the United States and close to one million in Canada, markets closer to home can be appealing to newcomers to the business of supplying halal foods.
But for those eyeing the more lucrative markets in the Middle East and Asia, Sairally advises companies to do their homework first.
“It’s a different culture, you don’t go over there and just get a $2-or $3-million contract,” he said. “It doesn’t work this way. You have to understand the culture, create friendships.”
Ultimately, halal foods are just part of an industry that includes everything from tourism to cosmetics.
“Canadian businesses need to get on the train,” Sairally said. “Because the train is leaving the station.”