CITEM leads food industry campaign for slice of $1-T halal market

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s export promotion authority is leading the food industry’s campaign for a share in the $1.1-trillion global halal market, strategically zeroing in its marketing offensive on the heart of the Muslim-dominated region of the Middle East through its trading hub in Dubai.

This development surfaced from the ongoing preparations of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) for the forthcoming Gulfood, a global exhibition serving as a sourcing platform for exporters seeking new sales from the vast  halal-consuming regions of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Halal is an Arabic term pertaining to food and non-food items produced, sourced and processed in accordance with Islamic laws.  In its food context, halal covers meat and non-meat products and processed foods and drinks.

Citing online news from Emirates 24/7 of the Dubai Media Inc. on the results of a study reported by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, CITEM executive director Rosvi C. Gaetos said the $1.1-trillion market recorded in 2013 was projected to swell to $1.6 trillion by 2018 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 6.9 percent.

 “UAE (United Arab Emirates) alone accounted for $20 billion in 2012,” Gaetos stressed, referring to the same report.

Most of UAE’s imports are traded in Dubai, and placed at a total of $3.6 billion in 2010 and estimated to reach $5.5 billion in 2015. 

Moreover, UAE’s ports account for 61 percent of the total trade volume of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-member countries and is ranked among the world’s top container ports, according to Gulfood organizers,

Gulfood 2015 is slated at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on Feb. 8 to 12.

Acknowledged as the world’s biggest annual food and hospitality show, Gulfood attracts almost 5,000 exhibitors from over 120 countries and showcases their products on more than 11.3 hectares of exhibition space in DWTC.

Constituting Gulfood are exhibits under four categories: beverage & beverage equipment, food & drink, food service & hospitality, and restaurant & café.

Reports from Gulfood cited exhibitors from the United States recording sales of $106.7 million, Ethiopia over $3 million, and the Philippines more than $53.4 million.

Gaetos says CITEM is bringing to Gulfood at least 24 exhibitors to promote their respective halal products to the Muslim world, including the continental regions of Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA.

Other details on the Philippine participation in Gulfood can be obtained from CITEM (call tel. 8312201 local 277, or visit www.ifexphilippines.com/gulfood2015/).

Through Gulfood, CITEM also promotes Philippine halal products to the neighboring Muslim countries in Southeast Asia.

Online reports cited Indonesia as having the biggest halal consumption at $197 billion in 2012, followed by Turkey at $100 billion.

On the other hand, the biggest halal meat exporters to Dubai are Brazil with 166,000 metric tons (MT) or 53 percent of the total volume of 314,000 MT, followed by the US with 43,000 MT or 14 percent, and Australia with 27,000 MT or nine percent.

The nearby countries of Pakistan and India supplied only five percent each of the total volume, and Ethiopia three percent.

“Thus, there’s more than enough room for Philippine halal exports to this vast market, which includes its entire value chain spanning farm inputs, food production technologies, processing facilities, and logistics,” Gaetos said, citing similar report estimating halal consumption at 16.6 percent of the global food and beverage market in 2012 and still growing because of the continued rise in the population of its captive markets or consuming countries.