Safeway Halal Meats

There's a great post on the burgeoning muslim/halal trade industry over at Altmuslim.com. Here are some excerpts (my emphasises):

Muslims, on the other hand, have a purchasing power that overwhelms the still-small collection of businesses that caters exclusively to them (mainly Mom-and-Pop restaurants, stores, and markets). And since nothing attracts the corporate world like the smell of unharvested profits, businesses from Citibank to IKEA are wondering just how much Muslim marketing they can produce without alienating their other customers, and initial forays are meeting with some success.

Next month, two conferences on the halal industry, the World Halal Forum and MIHAS, will take place in Malaysia, a country that aims to be a "halal hub" for the world halal food industry. But among the attendees will be representatives of many non-Muslim countries, such as New Zealand, South Africa, and India, which are aiming to be the leading suppliers of halal meat to Muslims, both domestic and international.

What chance does the local Halal butcher have, for example, when Muslims can pick up shrink-wrapped halal meats at the local Safeway while they do their everyday shopping? The irony is that the Muslim consumer market is maturing faster than Muslim food and halal service providers.

Interesting no? Read the article here.

p/s: Brief hiatus in effect. Exams mah.