As public opinion regarding Muslims continues to be challenged by recent news events, there are some in the West who are looking past all that and are instead considering how to best cater to their needs. But it's not necessarily a new found socio-political sympathy. Just as oil revenues have kept certain Muslim states economically linked to the West, the growing purchasing power of Muslims in Western countries has created a group too seductive to be reviled completely.

Until recently, companies that merely listened to a potential Muslim clientele invited accusations of "dhimmitude", consorting with the enemy, or caving in to religion in an agnostic (or at least Judeo-Christian) marketplace. Yet, in spite of this, more companies are noticing the estimated $170 billion annually that Muslim consumers spend in the US alone (and these Muslim Americans, many of whom immigrated as highly-educated professionals, consistently rank as one of the highest per-capita income groups in the country). Similarly, Muslims in the US and UK are attracting the attention of marketing professionals because they are a younger, more attractive demographic than their non-Muslim peers. As a result, Muslim economic (i.e., halal) needs area slowly being supplied in greater numbers by non-Muslims.

While companies have targeted ethnic groups for some time now, there have been few examples of target demographics based on religion. Some publishing companies have had luck with targeting Christian households with appropriately-themed materials, but those markets are also served by well-established niche companies. Muslims, on the other hand, have a purchasing power that overwhelms the still-small collection of businesses that caters exclusively to them (mainly Mom-and-Pop restaurants, stores, and markets). And since nothing attracts the corporate world like the smell of unharvested profits, businesses from Citibank to IKEA are wondering just how much Muslim marketing they can produce without alienating their other customers, and initial forays are meeting with some success.

For example, when two McDonald's restaurants in Melbourne, Australia switched to halal sources for their meat, sales doubled despite some protests by non-Muslims (select McDonald's restaurants in the UK followed suit this week). The Nando's restaurant chain has profited immensely by offering halal offerings of its Portuguese chicken in 25% of its stores in the UK. One entrepreneur is even seeking to export prepackaged organic halal pizzas from Canada to Muslim populations throughout North America and Europe. "There are a lot of Muslims who would eat this up," says Angelo Alof , founder of Organic Halal International Foods (and master of puns, evidently).

As for mainstream foods, another businessman has helped introduce and distribute in the UK halal sweets (including Gummi Bears) by Haribos, one of Europe's biggest sweet manufacturers. Nestle has become the biggest multi-national food manufacturer for Muslims, producing halal food in 75 of its 481 factories and earning over $3 billion in annual sales. And for those Muslim entrepreneurs, such as restaurant owners, who are looking for Islamically-compatible business-to-business services, Lloyd's TSB Bank has begun offering Islamic business accounts in Britain.

Next month, two conferences on the halal industry, the World Halal Forum and MIHAS, will take place in Malaysia, a country that aims to be a "halal hub" for the world halal food industry. But among the attendees will be representatives of many non-Muslim countries, such as New Zealand, South Africa, and India, which are aiming to be the leading suppliers of halal meat to Muslims, both domestic and international. These countries are starting to take notice of changing tastes among Muslims around the world, as the spending patterns of younger generations more closely mirror their non-Muslim peers rather than their Muslim parents.

For Muslims, all this attention is a double-edged sword. Becoming an official (and lucrative) demographic in the eyes of the corporate world ensures a base level of respect and protection by the larger society. After all, nobody likes to slaughter a cash cow. But in the process, the Muslim community stands to lose a great deal of control over its own economic potential. What chance does the local Halal butcher have, for example, when Muslims can pick up shrink-wrapped halal meats at the local Safeway while they do their everyday shopping? The irony is that the Muslim consumer market is maturing faster than Muslim food and halal service providers. But the good news is everybody might start to love us.

I just found the easter egg on the KFC picture

Every altmuslim photo since 2003 has an easter egg :-)

>> Don't laugh - it's damn good chicken.

Its a South African franchise, started off by two neighbourhoood friends, who were looking to make easy money off the are maids. And its marketed as Portuguese because its is supposedly a Mozambiquen recipe.

In any event, the subject of halaal hits close because I realise we all have different ideas of it and the legalese behind it can upset the true intent of halaal. People don't eat the meat in Makkah and Madinah because when you see big signs on the side of the truck saying "product of the USA", a suspicion arises about the food. To be clear, I don't know how halaal a chicken can be if had its head chopped off while a tape was playing in the background?! Anyone agree with me, that muslims are falling within economic models of deen and letting the.

I've met many jewish people who would eat halaal because they consider almost good enough to be kosher. Granted they are very liberal jews but you get the idea. Same for Hindus who only buy from halaal butchers.

Halal is generally a farce. It has the potential to be an animal rights, environmental protectionist, human rights concept. However, it generally involves pure ritual, for instance having loud speakers blast Quran versus at cattle being butchered on assembly lines.

Truly Halal in my opinion would be:

1. No factory farms, humane farming practices.
2. No exploitation of labor on farms and processing.
3. Environmentally sound farming practices.
4. Safe to eat, i.e. no pesticides or hormones.

In my opinion pork raised and packaged under those conditions is more Halal than lamb butchered while reciting Quran verses.

>> Truly Halal

That said .. we have to remember the economic models of the current global situation makes it very difficult to supply such large numbers of produce in the manner that you ascribe without negatively affecting the larger populace. Most of us live of innovative, scientific methods of producing food. That being said .. I totally agree with you that the ethical progression of the Muslim Ummah should take these into consideration.

Anyone knows what happens with the large amounts of Qurbani that are made during the Hajj? I've always been interested. But as the Saudi government stands (and many many others), there is a very little access to, and dissipation of information. Maybe the guys at MEMRI know lol.

>> that muslims are falling within economic models of deen and letting the.

..economics of our situations determine our level and facets of involvement with deen. (to complete the above post)

>> In my opinion pork raised and packaged under those conditions is more Halal than lamb butchered while reciting Quran verses.

I don't think so, but I understand what you mean. Because the one is slaughtered with the conviction of Allahs bountys and mercys and the other isn't.

Nothing to worry about there. Been inside a halal butcher's shop lately? I don't see any difference in price whatsoever. McDonalds and other big chains in Dearborn, Michigan offer halal items on the menu at the same price as the non-halal (I won't say haram) equivalent. >

Dearborn, MI is an anomaly, with a huge Muslim population there is plenty of competion for the Muslim dollar.
Many of us live in cities where Zabiha, if available, is often 2 to 3 times more expensive than the grocery store.
Calling the food that many of us eat as "non-halal" is extremely offensive to me. I would not eat something deemed forbidden for us by Allah.

Are there federal rules preventing you guys from nationalizing the supply of meat?

And zabiha seems very different from the halaal that I've learnt about.

peace4all said: where Zabiha, if available, is often 2 to 3 times more expensive than the grocery store
Really? That surprises me, because as far as I know, most of the zabihah meat in the US is imported fresh frozen from places like Australia. The cost of importing zabihah meat to Michigan couldn't be far removed from the cost of importing it to Your Location. The price difference must reflect distribution/economy of scale stuff,and not the difference in slaughtering zabihah vs slaughtering conventionally. Unlike with organic produce or gourmet foods, zabihah meat is not inherently more expensive than the conventional product was my only real point. Sorry if that didn't come across the first time.

Calling the food that many of us eat as "non-halal" is extremely offensive to me.
Please don't be extremely offended. I meant non-halal in the sense of non-zabihah meaning not slaughtered islamically, not in the sense of "sinful to eat". That's why I said (I won't say haram) after my statement. I respect the opinion of Shaykh Tantawi and others who allow American muslims to eat Ahl Kitab meat. I will say though that I think that is meant as a rukhsa or dispensation in the face of hardship or unavailability of zabihah meat, and not that zabihah is equivalent to AK meat in desirability. In other words, we should strive for zabihah to the best of our ability. wa Allahu alam.

The price differential comes from monopolies on the market and the need of small shopkeepers to charge high enough prices to stay in business. Often these butchers cater only to the Muslim sub-sub-market since most Americans just go to the supermarket these days. Also, it seems some shopkeepers really milk the cow and know that they have a captive market and not alot of competition in many cities and towns to keep the price down (too easy to spread rumors about the non-zabiha nature of your competitor). Sure, there are lots of honest shopkeepers out there, but since they can charge alot more, many simply do just that. Ah, capitalism...

(too easy to spread rumors about the non-zabiha nature of your competitor)

Oh is that ever the truth! If there are two halal butchers in town, it's a fact that one of them is a closet shia secretly sourcing beef from Israel.

Remember the Hebrew National kosher campaigns...This was directed at Gentiles, not Jews

Correct. ALL the Orthodox Jews I know do not buy Hebrew National because their attitude towards kashrut is not strict enough. (Non-religious Jews probably buy HN because it tastes better.)

since there are many similarities between kosher and halal, why not they join forces to sell their products together?

We do. However, although what is kosher is automatically halal, but halal cannot be accepted as kosher by Jews. (Personally, if I had no other choices and my life depended on it, I think I'd consume a halal-certified cheese over one that wasn't certified at all, but that's the only exception I can think of.)

Instead, what generally happens is that Muslims and Jews become joint owners of kosher establishments - restaurants, butchers, delicatessens, etc - and co-operate and certification of packaged food products. Those muslims who wish to consume non-kosher but halal products can still go to the halal butcher, who I speculate can serve his community even better because he can be more specialized.

bingregory, what exactly would be wrong with "sourcing beef from Israel" if the meat is kosher?

Nothing in particular, beyond politics. Lots of muslims boycott Israeli goods, but that wasn't my point. There's nothing wrong with buying meat from a shia muslim either. I was mocking the distasteful rumormongering that pops up whenever you've got two halal butchers in the same town.