Benefits of Halal Certification

Getting a Halal Certification is easy and opens your business to a whole new target market - the Muslims!

Muslims make up around 1.8 billion people globally and considering the world population is around 6 billion, can you afford not to open your business to this growing market?

In Australia, Muslims number around 350,000-400,000 based upon data from the 2006 census. Melbourne and Sydney host most of these Muslims with places like Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth hosting sizeable communities too.

As this population grows, their demands for halal food grow as well. Not just in restaurants, cafes and takeaways but at sporting venues and for event catering.

You don't need to be a Muslim to have a Halal Certified business or to have Halal Certified products. You simply need to follow some guidelines and that's it! Once the community gets to know that you're Halal Certified, they're more likely to start visiting you and you know how word of mouth spreads in our community!

Some of the things you'll need to consider when getting your Halal Certification:

• purchasing meat from Halal Certified butchers and/or abattoirs
• removing any sort of pig meat (pork, bacon, ham) from your premises altogether
• ensuring that only vegetable oils are used for cooking, and not animal fat/lard
• if you do server some non halal food, ensure that halal food is cooked using separate equipment
• utensils are thoroughly cleansed and there's no contamination with other foods that may not be halal
• clear labelling of halal food and clear separation so there's no contamination

It's not that difficult and many non Muslim businesses are making the move to be Halal certified because they see the benefits.

Halal food isn't something that only Muslims can eat - it's just like regular food except it's now OK for Muslims to eat it. If you go out and buy 200 Halal meat pies for an event and only 100 get eaten, no need to worry about stockpiling the rest or throwing them out - simply give it to other patrons (who may not be Muslim).

But it doesn't have to stop there. Consider exporting to Muslim countries - their economies are growing every second, esp. in the Middle East thanks to their vast oil reserves and with a Halal Certification, you're more likely to secure their business. They love our Aussie Lamb and Aussie Beef over there!

The Muslim community in Australia is young but it has growing money power. Totalling millions and millions of dollars, you have to ask yourself again, can you afford not to tap into this market? Get your Halal Certification today and start seeing the difference!

ps. the information here is generic in nature and you should take adequate steps to ensure that you fully comply with regulations according to the body responsible for issuing your particular halal certification.