MEAT and Livestock Australia is counting on a strategic global
marketing campaign built around the Halal brand to help lift Australian
red meat sales in Muslim countries during what it predicts will be a
tough 12 months for the traditional meat markets.
The unique brand,
which was kicked off this month after being trialed in Middle countries
for the last 10 months, makes Australia the first country in the world
with a globally-endorsed and certified Halal brand underpinned by
government legislation.
MLA’s head of Middle East and Africa
trade services and global Halal program, Blair Brice, said the new
brand – which now appears on retail meat packs and advertisements in
Islamic country supermarkets and butchers – gave MLA an enormous leg up
into a growing market.
“With large natural resources the Middle
East is growing at an exponential rate, and the fact that they are
large meat consumers and hold up Australian sheep, lamb and beef means
the market can grow from strength to strength.”
“There is massive
potential, in Saudi Arabia alone the population is expected to double,
a significant proportion of the population is under 24 years of age,
they have large families and are very family orientated so the
propensity to increase consumption of red mead is massive and we are
seeing it in the figures.”
Mr Brice said with Australia’s
traditional meat markets, the United States and United Kingdom already
showing signs of negative growth as economic down turn grips markets,
the Middle East still has enough growth and capacity to continue
growing.
“The Middle East is still on track to for 6-8 per cent growth next years, and some countries close to double digit.”
With
an estimated two billion Muslims around the world, MLA has predicted
that the market for Halal products globally is worth $570 billion
annually.
“The brand is just growing, but already we are seeing
large demand in Muslim markets in the United States and know that there
are over a million Muslims in Korea and a large market in Japan,” Mr
Brice said.
“We know the Halal brand will not just be confided to traditional Muslim countries.”
Under
Islamic law, for meat to be permissible for consumption it must be
Halal, or lawful, and animals must be slaughtered by a Muslim in
accordance with the Islamic “Shariah” or law.
