Europe currently has some 20 million Muslims, and the number is increasing. With this, the demands from the food industry are shifting and big companies and suppliers are paying attention.
THE HALAL JOURNAL recently spoke to Antoine Bonnel, one of the pioneers of Halal food marketing in France to share his views in the changing tide in his country.
When did Europe realise the potential of Halal?
Europe has still not realised that it was facing a global Halal market of 2 billion consumers worldwide, less than two years ago. However, things are really accelerating since last year.
How many Muslims are there in Europe?
We evaluate the population to be around 20 million in Europe. France has 7 million Muslims, the UK has 4 million, Germany 2 million and the rest in Belgium, Scandinavia and other countries.
How lucrative do you think the Halal market is there?
It is difficult to say how lucrative the European Halal market is at the moment. As there is no precise study done, we just know that the market in Europe is evaluated at 15 billion euros. This figure is only for the Halal meats sales and does not integrate the fast growing Halal processed food and ready-to-eat meals.
How about Halal certification bodies?
There are no specific regulations yet in Europe concerning Halal certification. However, there are more than 40 certification bodies in France, and hundreds in other parts of Europe. Amongst them, you can distinguish the certification associations from the three main mosques in France –Paris, Evry and Lyon – as well as AVS, an independent private certification agency, which has a good reputation. Its professional activities are mainly concentrated in the region of Paris. Besides abattoirs, AVS is also certifying numerous butcher stores in Paris. In France, for instance, as there is no single definition of Halal, [the issue of slaughtering becomes quite problematic]. Some stun the animals, some do not; some do it by hand, some automatically. As a matter of fact, there is no guarantee at all on how the meat has been done.
As there is no legal obligation to be controlled, some companies simply put a Halal logo without having been controlled. Everything then relies on the confidence a consumer puts in a company or a brand. As the Halal business is becoming bigger and involves a lot of money, we think that the French government and the European community should try to organise the Halal market to make it more transparent.
In your opinion, which country champions the Halal cause in Europe?
There is quite a global rush to the Halal business – but there are only a few real debates about how and what Halal should be. The UK and France are amongst the most debating countries because of the multitude of certification bodies in each country and the importance of its own Muslim community. Even the Halal food markets are quite different between the UK and France because of the difference in Muslim populations and origins. Nevertheless, the lack of organisation between the two markets is quite similar.
Even so, I would think that France has an advance in the Halal cause as the French government in Europe to have created an official and recognised national Muslim institution called Centre Francais pour le Culte Musulman (CFCM), in charge of the cult and cultural interest of the 7 million Muslim community based in France. The CFCM has even created inside its organisation, a Halal commission, which was supposed to regulate and set up a unique Halal label. Unfortunately, the economic interests of the three mosques aforementioned in the issue of Halal fees have hindered the achievement of such a project.
What are these fees for?
These fees go directly to the control organisations. Most of them take around 0.7 euros per kg of red meat. AVS, amongst the most expensive controllers in France could go up to 0.15 euros. For chicken meat, most of the control deals are based on a percentage of the sales, where the average would be 2 per cent.
How do Halal food players perceive CFCM?
As a matter of fact, global Halal food players seem to refuse to recognise CFCM’s role in the matter. It has got to do with politics and community competition. The president of CFCM, Dahil Boubaeker – an Algerian – is also the rector of the mosque of Paris. The Moroccan and Tunisian communities do not want an Algerian domination and control of the Halal business.
It looks like everybody is trying to protect his or her economic interests first before the interest of Halal and consumers. As a consequence, more and more food manufacturers refuse to pay the Halal fees to certification agencies and make Halal without any “official” control.
How many European supermarkets are selling Halal products?
It is difficult to say how many European supermarkets are selling Halal products. In fact, current Halal sales are limited to meat products and charcuterie. Previously, most Halal products were sold in supermarket surrounded by large Muslim communities. Things are changing now. Supermarket managers have understood the benefit they can take from a new offer in their stores and the additional turnover from Halal food and drinks can bring to their business, especially in France where Muslims represent 10 per cent of the total population.
You organised the First Euro Halal Exhibition, where you successfully regrouped a Halal and kosher trade show under one roof. Do you think Halal is able to create the same awareness as kosher did?
We anticipate that Halal food will expand nationally to numerous stores and be sold to non-Muslims, provided that Halal becomes a quality and safety standard like what kosher evokes in the US. Unfortunately, we are far behind this.
Why?
First of all, let us get a common definition of Halal. If Muslims themselves have doubts about Halal products in the market, can you imagine the mess it represents in the mind of a non-Muslim consumer? Once this common standard is achieved and [a uniform] Halal standard applied to all food – not just meat – then we can begin to consider Halal as a hygiene standard, even for non-Muslim consumers. We still have a few years in front of us!
This year’s Euro Halal Exhibition will include a “new generation” of Halal food such as ready-to-eat meals like lasagne, quiche loraine, pizza and nugget. But is that representative of the actual situation in France right now?
Halal [food] is not as expansive as it is in Malaysia. Things are going slower because we are not in a Muslim country. In fact, we still have an old-fashioned vision of Halal business, where 99 per cent of it is meat and processed meat. Evolution is coming from a new generation of Halal ready meals. Revolution will come from other Halal certified products, completely unknown at this stage by European Muslim consumers like Nestle and Coca Cola.
Coca-Cola?
Yes, the American Halal certified Coca Cola. We are not taking into account “political” colas such as Mecca Cola, Bagdad Cola or Muslim Up, which we believe have nothing to do with Halal.
When can European Muslim consumers expect the evolution to happen?
Each step of evolution has its time. At this stage, it is unimaginable for them to think about cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and lifestyle.
In a country where there is resurgence of anti-Semitism and anti-Arabs, how is Halal perceived by your non-Muslim population?
There are quite a bit of rumours and misunderstandings of Halal. It appears that the notion is not understood by the majority of French consumers. In some regions, Halal is even perceived as a negative factor by ignorant French. Most of the time, this negative attitude is directly linked to the general [perception] of what they have towards the Muslim community.
The French government maintains a strong gap between civilian life and religion. Religion is considered as private as possible, and it is considered offensively inquisitive to enter religious discussions in most contexts. How does your government view Halal then?
It is a very sensitive subject because the government is “laique” and is neither supposed to get into nor finance any religious matters. Things are very confusing at the moment. At one side, the government considers that Halal is part of a religious ritual of the Muslim community, and hence, has to be organised by the CFCM. On the other side, the government takes into account the amount of money involved and the volume represented by the Halal sales.
Concretely, what does this imply?
The increasing volume of Halal food [in the market] and the money generated by this business makes the government aware that it has to be more regulated. [This could also be explained by] fear or not knowing where the large amount of money goes. [The government would prefer] to use this money to build mosques and finance the Muslim community’s cultural activities. So, the Halal money represents an opportunity [for us] in that sense.
What will the next step be in this issue?
Recently, there have been a few debates and proposals by the Ministry of Interior [headed by Dominique de Villepin] to create a foundation in charge of the money to finance the cultural activities.
**This article was first published in The Halal Journal May/Jun 2005 edition.
