Here’s Why Malaysia’s Halal Food Products Market Should Not Be Missed

More than 60% of Malaysia’s population are Muslims and as this figure grows, the demand for halal food, which is the food Muslims are permitted to consume, is only increasing. Because of this large Muslim population, halal certification is extremely important in ensuring the success of companies and their products.

In the last few years, in Malaysia’s urban areas, many halal restaurants and food products have sprung up attracting Muslim consumers with their halal compliance.

Nestle, the world’s largest food products company, is riding high on the halal wave in Malaysia. Nestle’s revenue in 2017 is expected to increase to RM6 billion from RM5 billion in 2015. 12-15 million Nestle products are consumed every day in Malaysia. Innovation in this sector is proving to be fetching for Nestle, with RM400 million generated for them from new innovative products in 2015. Over the last seven years, Nestle has invested RM1.5 billion in Malaysia. While Nestle currently has eight factories with over 6,000 employees in Malaysia, its profits and exports went up 18% and 12% respectively in the first quarter of 2016 from the same period last year.

With growing number of visitors from the Islamic World into countries all over the world, these host countries will aim to meet the needs of this growing demand, bringing to them to the Malaysian market. For example, Yamae Hisano, a Japanese food wholesaler is entering into a business tie-up with Dewina Food Industries to import halal food products into Japan to sell these products, such as boil-in-bag foods like curry, to hotels, restaurants and retailers in Japan. China is creating a halal light-industrial zone and shipping hub in the Shangdong Province, in a partnership with Malaysia.

It is evident that this sector has attracted the attention of global investors, making Malaysia extremely relevant in this market of huge opportunity.

Source: NST online