Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, said Iran plans to launch its international halal food brand in the next few months to tap an underserved regional market of 400 million people, Iran Daily reported.
He added that the country had received certification for establishing an international halal food brand.
“The market in the regional countries and even in Europe strongly welcomes sales of halal food produced by Islamic states. Accordingly, representation of a halal brand has been obtained by Iran which we hope to establish in the next few months,” he said.
Halal means permissible in the Islamic Sharia law and covers everything from food to finance, logistics and tourism. The global halal industry is estimated to be worth more than $2 trillion, including a $1 trillion food market which is expanding.
A growing middle-class Muslim population compounded by rising demand from non-Muslim nations has sparked a race among many countries to scrape a niche in the halal market.
Major Muslim countries from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Turkey and Pakistan to non-Muslim nations such as Japan, New Zealand and the UK are jockeying for position.
Jalalpour said Iran has an upper hand due to its high potentials in food industry.
“Some of the countries around Iran desperately need our food products because those in north of Iran have between six and nine months of frigid temperatures a year while those in the south of our country lack suitable water and soil for farming.
“Hence, given its potentials in the food industry, Iran can supply nutritional needs of these countries,” he added.
Also, Kaveh Zargaran, secretary general of Food Industries Association of Iran, said 105 domestic and overseas companies have taken part in the event.
Iran also plans to turn into the world's hub for halal tourism which could draw as many as 15 million Muslims a year from around the world, officials have said.
Halal tourism is geared at Muslim families, with non-alcoholic policies and separate facilities for women and men placed on the itinerary.
Muslim tourists are seen as one of the fastest growing travel groups, accounting for 10 percent of the global travel spending in 2014, worth $150 billion.
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Tehran, Sept 17, IRNA - Iran's Sixth International Beverages and Affiliated Industries Exhibition is underway in Tehran with the participation of 105 domestic and foreign companies. It wraps up today.
