The growing trend of halal chicken ingredients

The demand for halal chicken ingredients is growing. But what makes a chicken ingredient halal, why is this market growing, and should you convert to halal? When it comes to trends in the industry, Sonac leads the way. In this blog we discuss the growing market for halal chicken products and whether or not you should consider halal proteins for your food products.

First, what halal chicken means

The word “halal” translates to permissible, says the Halal Food Authority. In general, chicken and turkey (aka poultry) is permitted within the Muslim diet, whereas a meat like pork is not. Then another parameter that makes meat halal is how it’s slaughtered—and it’s not all that different from Jewish kosher practices. The animal must be healthy at the time of slaughter, and death should be quick and done in a specific way to create as little pain as possible to the animal. There are some other specifics, such as a dedication performed by a Muslim.

Why is the halal market growing?

First, the market for poultry in general is growing. It’s a global trend, in fact, and is quickly becoming the biggest meat segment, surpassing pork, as you can see in the chart. But also, the demand for halal chicken products is emerging especially in Indonesia, Malasia, Northern India, and the Middle East—and many in these markets are Muslim. In fact, their consumption of meat products overall is increasing, and for a product to be sold in those markets, they need to be halal.

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There are a few drivers behind this increasing halal market. For one, the income per capita in these countries is increasing and so consumers in these markets can now afford to purchase more meat. That higher income influences grocers and how grocery store shelves are stocked. From there, there’s a trickle-down effect to slaughter houses, processing plants, etc.—all of which are split for halal and non-halal food products.

The benefits of converting to halal production

In the chicken and turkey industry it’s becoming increasingly common to only produce halal chicken or turkey products. For poultry producers, and especially those who are preparing various poultry products (think: burgers, nuggets, meatballs, sausages), it’s more efficient and less complex to have one ingredient that can be used in all poultry products. Also, when your meat product is halal, it’s suitable for more consumers than if it weren’t halal and this broadens your customer base.

You can read about how Sonac can provide halal certified poultry protein in this blog.

Learn more about Sonac’s functional poultry protein QBind Chicken FPP C and QBind Turkey FPP T, and download our leaflet. Or, download Sonac’s whitepaper, titled The Benefits of Using Functional Poultry Protein, here.

You can also request a sample and test this protein in your food product. Fill out a request here and a product specialist will send a sample.