The Surya Foods management team estimates that the halal frozen food category in the United Kingdom is worth in excess of £135 million, with annual growth of circa +25%. These statistics suggest significant growth driven by a wider demographic, which in addition to consumers who adhere to the tenets of Islam includes non-Muslims who are concerned about food safety, hygiene and reliability.
The increase in demand has seen manufacturers broadening their product lines with the introduction of items such as soups, burgers, fried chicken and pizzas. The interest in this sector is expected to continue, with the IMARC Group predicting strong growth over the next five years.
Speaking at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Halal Seminar several years ago, Abdalhamid Evans, strategist at Imarat Consulting, told delegates about the importance of the halal market post-Brexit:
“If we want to be open for business with the world, we need to be aware that a lot of the rest of the world is Muslim, which is the only major religious group projected to grow faster than the world’s population as a whole.”
The UK Muslim population currently numbers around 3.4 million (IRi November/December 2020 MAT ‘EXT IRi Marketplace) and is forecast to reach 5.5 million by 2030, so it’s not just current demand that needs to be taken into consideration, but that of the future too.
With almost half of Muslims in Britain under the age of 30, a younger demographic is driving demand for convenience products to fit in with busy, modern lives.
“I believe halal is coming to a point where it is going from niche to mainstream,” said Harry Dulai, managing director at Harwich, Exxes, England-based Surya Foods, the company behind the Humza and Shazans frozen food brands, and distributor of halal brands Salaam and Gino’s. “We as a company are certainly in the business of creating exciting and authentic world food products with widespread appeal.”
Dulai added: “There is currently a great opportunity to engage with Muslim consumers and meet their needs more effectively, with a recent survey suggesting 62% feel their needs are not being fully met. (Source: Ogilvy Noor Great British Ramadan Survey 2020).”
Surya Foods only stepped into the burgeoning halal convenience food sector in 2016 with the acquisition of Humza and soon after Gino’s Foods, which manufactures a wide range of halal breaded chicken products. Meanwhile, Shazans entered an exclusive licensing arrangement last year for its frozen lines. Shazans ranks as the UK’s No.1 halal brand across frozen, chilled pre-pack and counters.
“We only entered this market in 2016 and tripled our Humza frozen range offering in the space of a year,” said Dulai. “We continue to invest in NPD to expand our range of authentic, meal solutions for busy Muslim families.”
Central Foods, one of the Britain’s leading frozen food distributors, supplies a number of halal-approved items to the foodservice sector. Among them are chicken and poultry products, which include Spicy Bean Burgers and Vegetable Sausages under the KaterVeg brand, as well as Golden Valley Foods’ Southern Fried Crispy Strips and Battered Chicken Steaks. It also sells Almondy brand Swedish Tårta (cakes).
“The foodservice sector has obviously been adversely affected in general by the restrictions brought in to deal with the Covid pandemic, and this has led to an overall drop in demand for many products,” said Gordon Lauder, managing director of Central Foods. “In terms of halal products, what we can say is that the biggest demand is from the independent foodservice sector, varying by geographical area in the UK. Takeaway and delivery have been two key sectors of the foodservice industry which have continued to operate during the lockdowns, and this has ensured that demand remains for frozen halal products.”
Halal products are on the increase in supermarkets as demand from consumers grows. Morrisons, for example, offers a line of products in its freezers, ranging from Meat Spring Rolls to Popcorn Chicken, under the Humza and Gino’s brands.
The supermarket’s website states: “We respect the fact that some religious communities want to eat food produced in accordance with their beliefs, and sell branded halal and kosher products where there is strong customer demand. It’s clear from the labeling that these products are halal or kosher.”
Tesco also offers an assortment of halal food in some of its stores and online, including Humza Peri Chicken Goujons, Easy Chef Lamb Sausages and Humza Lamb Seeth Kebab.
Four Major Trends
According to the Surya Foods marketing department, there are four major trends driving the halal market at present: convenience, range, value for money and frozen. There has been significant NPD in the sector in line with a growing demand for convenience.
“The UK Muslim market has had to rely heavily on scratch cooking to guarantee the provenance of meat in popular everyday items like samosas and kebabs,” said Dulai. “However, the enormous success of our brands is evidence that consumers are hungry for premium quality, convenient, halal food. Today, Shazans makes over 25 million handmade samosas a year for the UK market.
“We have been particularly active on the NPD side and tripled our Humza frozen SKUs in the space of a year. We have researched 130 new concepts and are launching a huge range of new ideas from this.”
Broader trends also impacting the sector are: the Covid-19 effect which resulted in increases in home eating (Kantar quoted 500 million additional in-home dining occasions at peak lockdown; Increased Takeaway & Home Delivery volume (especially in working households and younger segments).
With a shifting demographic associated with halal products in the UK it’s essential that foodservice operators and retail outlets take note in order to stay relevant within this expanding market. – Reported by Sarah Welsh
