HALAL HORIZON

JULIE GALLAGHER

Food shopping can be especially arduous for the estimated 3 million to 7 million halal consumers in the U.S.

Shoppers looking for meat that's certified halal - or slaughtered and prepared as prescribed by Muslim law - often supplement several monthly excursions to their traditional halal meat market with trips to the local supermarket. Others settle for kosher meat, a second choice, because it provides the assurance of the absence of pork, which is prohibited under Islamic law. Still others opt for the convenience of conventional meat.

Traditional supermarkets are in a position to satisfy a need and capture a piece of the $12 billion spent by halal consumers on food every year.

Albertsons, Wal-Mart Stores, Pathmark, Tops Market, H.E. Butt Grocery, Cub Foods, Hy-Vee and a host of others have responded by introducing frozen halal meat and foods in selected stores that serve Muslim communities.

Pathmark Stores has offered halal products for the past 15 years, said Rich Savner, spokesman for the Carteret, N.J.-based retailer. The chain merchandises 10 SKUs of frozen halal products including beef patties and chicken wings in approximately 40 of its 140 Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania stores.

"All of our stores are authorized to carry halal foods but there has to be steady demand to justify its sale," he said. "Certain areas of New York and New Jersey have heavy Muslim populations. If that weren't the case, we wouldn't be merchandising these items. We hope to grow our market share along with the [Muslim] population."

To say that demand for halal foods is growing "is the understatement of the century," said David

Muller, president of Cambridge, Ontario-based Al Safa Halal, which supplies Albertsons, Pathmark, Wal-Mart and Tops Market.

ROBUST GROWTH RATE

According to Islamic Services of America, the market for halal will grow at a rate of 25%-30% per year over the next five to seven years.

In addition to Muslims, halal products are gaining appeal with natural and organic shoppers, military servicemen and women who were stationed in the Middle East, as well as travelers familiar with halal foods.

Still, Muslim shoppers present retailers with the most compelling business reason for introducing halal foods, said Joe Regenstein, professor at Cornell University's Department of Food Science.

The desire for conventional supermarkets to offer halal foods could be heard loud and clear during a consumer focus group, conducted by the University of Dayton's Business Research Group. One Muslim respondent noted the ideal shopping situation would offer "fresh [halal meat], available at every grocery so we could do one-stop shopping." Another contended, "If I could go to Kroger and get fresh halal goat meat, I would go shopping [there] every day."

Before that happens, supermarkets must win the trust of sometimes-skeptical halal consumers.

"One needs to assure the integrity of the [halal] meat and the lack of cross-contamination" with pork or non-halal meat, Regenstein said. "The ideal situation is prepackaged meat that bears a trusted producer's seal."

Only a handful of traditional supermarket chains in North America - including A&P's Food Basics and Sobeys' Price Chopper, both Toronto-based - carry fresh, case-ready cuts of certified Zabiha halal chicken and beef, which it sources from Al Safa Halal.

"The consumer for these products shops quite often, buying what they need when they need it," said Chuck Oulton, director of category management for beef and seafood at Sobeys. "There is little or no 'pantry-loading' by these consumers, which results in consistent weekly sales."

Price Chopper's fresh case-ready variety of chicken cuts, beef sirloin tips, boneless blade, top sirloin, T-bone steak and lean ground beef have had a steady incremental effect on overall sales, according to Oulton. The retailer also carries frozen chicken wings, chicken breasts, pizza, breaded chicken nuggets, chicken strips and frozen beef burgers, but its fresh case-ready meats have greater appeal.

FRESH IN DEMAND

"It is clear that the demand for fresh, [not frozen] halal meat is increasing and this demand continues through the 'Americanized' generations," Regenstein said. "These are people who are very quality-conscious. The traditions from which they come don't do frozen meat. It's very fresh and there is almost no aging. They kill it in the morning and then it's on the supper table" that night.

Price Chopper began merchandising fresh halal meat five years ago in 36 stores in the greater Toronto area.

"The Price Chopper meat program is designed to have meat cut outside the store at a central cutting facility and delivered fresh daily," Oulton said. "Halal meats are displayed in the same section as conventional meat. We've had no challenges to date since all halal products are labeled with a brand that is recognized by the Muslim community."

Al Safa Halal products sold at Price Chopper are Zabiha-certified. That means that the animal was slaughtered by a Muslim by hand, rather than machine, and according to Islamic law. Zabiha also requires that the slaughterhouse face Mecca, which is considered by Muslims to be the holiest city.

The Al Safa Halal brand has gained consumers' trust by enacting an open-door policy, according to Muller.

"Anyone at any time can come unannounced and witness [the hand] slaughter," he said. Many religious leaders initially took the company up on its offer, and that helped spread the word about its products, Muller said.

The company's products are certified by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, one of a handful of trusted halal-certifying groups in the U.S., according to Regenstein.

Unfortunately, limited supplies of fresh case-ready halal meat and the issues surrounding distribution of perishable products to distant regions create a sourcing problem for most supermarkets.

'A SUPPLY OBSTACLE'

Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Midamar Corp., which supplies Albertsons, Hy-Vee, H-E-B and Cub Foods, can only offer its fresh case-ready halal ground meats, stew meats and roasts to retailers located within close proximity to its halal slaughterhouses, said Jalel Aoussey, director of Midamar.

"We have an issue with making sure that there are enough raw materials for our supply," he said. "We don't want to offer a full line of case-ready beef and not be able to support it." Midamar is searching for additional slaughterhouses to keep up with the demand.

Similarly, Al Safa Halal can only distribute its fresh case-ready meat products to stores that are within 100 miles of its Cambridge facilities, according to Muller.

"It's a supply obstacle at this point," he said. "We wouldn't be able to get the fresh products to its destination fast enough. We're working with different slaughterhouses to improve this."

Similarly, Regenstein is working toward meeting demand for fresh halal lamb, goat and beef - that also happens to support sustainable farming and alternative agriculture - to independent halal meat markets in New York, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In addition to being consistent with halal, these meats may also qualify for natural and organic labels.

Aoussey suggested retailers interested in introducing halal meats in their stores start with frozen halal foods that can be displayed in their own stand-up or open-faced freezer, which is clearly identified as halal.

"You'll want to maintain that position for as long as you can and identify it so that consumers will go back to it," he said. "Then you can continue to support it with additional products including halal ground beef, [beef] hot dogs and pizza. The quickest point we can give to stores is to keep the halal foods away from the pork."

Pathmark merchandises Al Safa Halal frozen beef patties, chicken balls, Falafel patties, chicken nuggets, chicken strips, chicken patties, chicken wings and beef frankfurters together in its frozen meat section.

"They're not totally segregated from other meat items but they are in their own area," Savner said.

MARKETING TO MUSLIMS

Before a retailer can plan a merchandising strategy, officials must research the markets in which a halal offering would make the most sense.

The largest U.S. Muslim communities are in Dearborn, Mich.; Houston; and the Bay Area of Northern California, according to Muller.

Al Safa Halal uses its proprietary database of Muslim families to approach different supermarkets and tell them which particular area stores would be appropriate for halal products.

"If a chain has a store in Omaha [Neb.], then it's probably not going to be useful to put their products there, but if they have three stores in Patterson, N.J., then that is another story," he said.

After a supermarket's initial halal food introduction, Al Safa conducts product demonstrations, Muller said.

"We don't do them in the supermarket, we do them in nearby mosques and schools," he said. "We provide [potential shoppers] with a map to the halal providers because they may not be used to shopping there."

Muller said that Muslim consumers tend to have tremendous loyalty to the first traditional supermarket to introduce halal products in their area.

"Each Muslim community seems to bond with the first retailer that brings in halal," Muller said.

For instance, although Wakefern's ShopRite carries a much broader halal selection in the New York and New Jersey area than Pathmark, Muslim consumers still tend to gravitate towards Pathmark since it was the first to introduce halal products, he explained.

Over time, halal foods may become as recognizable as kosher foods.

"Offering halal meat would be a great way to attract Muslims to a store," Regenstein said. "Support for the supermarket will probably evolve, just as it did with kosher shoppers in the last 20 years."