By Irina Skaya
Today, Islam is the fastest growing religion on earth with the Muslim population estimated to reach two billion by 2010. The global Halal food market is estimated to be worth $632 billion a year.. A new study by JWT points out that the six million or so Muslims in America are, on average, richer and better educated than the general population. Two-thirds of Muslim households make more than $50,000 a year and a quarter earn over $100,000; the national average is $42,000. Two-thirds of American Muslims have a college degree, compared with less than half of the general population. Muslim families also tend to have more children. With these stats, businesses should indeed be tapping at this growing market segment.
An article in this week’s Time Magazine shows that even non-food companies like Nokia and LG are catering towards Muslim customers. For instance, Nokia provides free downloadable recitations from the Koran and maps showing major mosque locations in the Middle East. LG has an application that helps users find the direction of Mecca. What’s really interesting is that hotels, banks, and other organizations that operate according to Shari’a law are doing well despite the global downturn.
And the fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s in Singapore have seen an influx of millions of patrons annually after obtaining Halal certifications. Since being certified, “Halal, KFC, Burger King and Taco Bell have all seen an increase of 20 percent in customers” (Hairalah, cited in Hazair, 2007a: 13). 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.
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