THE country is ready to clinch a big chunk of the trillion-dollar halal industry once the integration of the respective economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is formalized next year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
In preparation for the Asean Economic Community (AEC), the agriculture department has been preparing halal agri-based commodities as top priority, DA halal focal person Norodin A. Kuit said in response to questions sent via electronic mail.
These are “halal feeds for aquatic and poultry animals, halal broiler chicken, halal aquaculture products and our so-called golden crops, which include corn, cocoa, cassava, coffee and coconut,” Kuit told the Businessmirror.
According to Kuit, the government has lined up several trainings for next year. These are specifically designed to improve the capacity of those who will be directly involved in the production of halal products, which include halal butchering and slaughtering, meat-inspection training, meat processing and feed formulation, he explained.
A recent research note by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates the halal food and beverage market has grown to a $1.1-trillion industry in 2013, adding that the halal food market includes a large variety of products from raw chicken and beef to halal processed foods and cold drinks.
“In 2012 halal food and beverage market accounted for 16.6 percent of the global food and beverage market,” an indication of a growing global acceptance on the positive principles behind the core of halal food production, the chamber also said.
The report also expects the market to grow into a $1.6-trillion industry by 2018, growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 6.9 percent.
The chamber also reported that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) halal food-consumption market was valued at around $20 billion in 2012, with halal meat as a significant component. The meat component is dominated by unpackaged meat, which was estimated to represent 78.7 percent of the total market share in 2013, while the remaining 21.3 percent went to packaged meat.
The report also noted the potential for UAE businesses to source low-cost basic food products from a variety of countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, which can be further processed and branded and resold to international
markets.
According to Kuit, the agriculture department has also initiated the rehabilitation of the Cotabato Halal Abattoir, from an “AA” to an “AAA” slaughterhouse, with an P20-million budget.
This is aside from the development and formulation of Philippine National Standard for Halal products by the Bureau of Agri-Fishery Standards, he added.
Other major government halal projects in the pipeline include the P120 million worth of halal poultry-dressing plant in Tarlac, which was specifically designed for export; and the Halal Food Development Training Center at the University of Southern Mindanao in North Cotabato, to be constructed with a P17-million budget, Kuit said.
Globally, the halal food industry is growing in a number of markets mainly in countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, South and Southeast Asia, the UAE chamber said.
It added that Indonesia is the biggest halal food market with a market value of $197 billion in 2012, followed by Turkey with $100 billion.
Alladin S. Diega | Correspondent