Thinking Outside the Food Box

FOOD is an imported commodity for many countries in the Middle East, but as new trends emerge and local industries intensify efforts to stay apace of trends and developments, indigenous cuisines and cultural tastes diversify. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Emirates, as the countries with the two largest F&B sectors in the Gulf Cooperation Council, spearhead the direction of the regional industry and influence how trends from outside the region are introduced. Similarly, as their F&B industry's mover and shakers expand outside the region, they influence how regional tastes and mores are perceived.

Whilst the region continues to import most of its F&B requirements, the prospects for manufacturers to develop exports remain positive. Middle East countries re-exported food and beverages valued at $2.0b in 2009, market research firm Frost and Sullivan reports, largely on an intra-regional basis.  The huge demand for halal F&B and the growing interest in Middle Eastern cuisine are just two factors why SMEs can and should formulate products that are unique, traditional and original to the region, and yet processed for overseas markets.

Another compelling reason – one that affects prospective markets both in and out the region –is the still-growing awareness of functional foods and the health benefits that can be derived with the intake of better-for-you (BFY) products. Indeed, the growth of the health beverages and foods in the UAE and KSA is being driven by enhanced consumer awareness about the benefits of healthy dietary habits and changing lifestyles. A still nascent market, the BFY segment remains promising especially in the GCC, where rising per capita income has encouraged consumers to consider healthier alternatives. Frost & Sullivan finds in its "Strategic Analysis of GCC Health Foods and Beverages Market" that the market earned revenues of $850m in 2009. 

The regional halal foods market depends significantly on imports, which to a certain extent are re-exported. In 2009, studies by Frost and Sullivan suggest that UAE alone imported about $150m halal food ingredients, processed and raw materials, whilst $50m of halal foods were re-exported from the emirates.

Halal as an Emerging Trend
Growth and demand for halal products in South East Asia, which has an even larger Muslim population than the region, has been booming owing to larger disposable incomes. The 'halal concept' has become a worldwide mega trend with investors, suppliers, producers, and retailers in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the USA, amongst others, focusing on this sector.

Xavier Terlet, CEO of global food industry consultants XTC World Innovation: ‘Technological innovation is important for the region's food sector'

The International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHIA) valued the Middle East halal food market in in 2010 at about $45bn, with the GCC accounting the largest share. Global demand is at least ten times that, making the halal food market a growth for opportunity that the region's leading players. Yet, whilst some companies have established a presence in the market, they are yet to achieve a stable foothold.Success requires to the growing trends germane to each specific international market. One such company that has taken this approach is Al Islami Foods, which has steered the halal sector to prominence outside the region. "

Al Islami is already a leading halal company in the regional food landscape and well-recognized in the global industry. Our halal procedures have created a benchmark and positioned us as a role model in the $651-billion-a-year halNew Balance