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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2017 www.gourmetnews.com YEAR IN REVIEW 2 0 BY ROBIN MATHER While you weren't looking, Walmart made a shrewd marketing move. There's a lesson there for all of us. Nearly a third of the population of Dear- born, Michigan, is Arab-American, according to the 2000 federal cen- sus. They're the descendants of im- migrants who came to work in the auto industry in the early 20th cen- tury. Walmart has recognized the strength of that potential market and has taken steps to court it. In 2008, Walmart designed its Dearborn store to attract Muslim shoppers. The effort included reor- ganizing parts of the store to re- semble an open-air market and hiring 35 Muslim clerks, whose name tags also note that they speak Arabic. Walmart also hired a Dearborn Arab-American to conduct cultural sensitivity training. "It's like a farmer's market," said Bill Bartell, the Store Manager, in an Associated Press story. The report described more than 20 produce tables featuring the squash, beans and cucumbers that Bartell's Middle Eastern customers want for their recipes. The section also captivated Bartell's black and Hispanic customers, he said, as quoted in that story. "Because we did all this due diligence prior to moving into this area, we came to realize our clients really kind of liked this atmosphere, and they liked the variety that we can give them." Walmart realized early that one out of five of the average Muslim households has a member with a medical degree or a Ph.D. Gallup has said that the second-most highly educated woman in America is a Muslim. Because the Muslim population tends to be highly educated, disposable in- come is about 30 percent higher than that of the average American household. Canny retailers and food manufacturers are out to capture some of the $20 billion in food dollars that Muslim demographic has to spend in restaurants and supermar- kets, says Adnan Derrani of Saffron Road, which produces snacks and frozen meals for observant Muslims and others who fol- low halal practices. (More about halal and what it means in a moment.) "Nielsen is saying that the halal market is expected to rise from 11 or 12 percent this year, up from 7 percent last year," Der- rani said. "Compare that to organic, which is projected to grow by 9 or 10 percent this year. This is a category that retailers need to pay attention to, when it's growing faster than organic foods." A 2016 Pew Research Center study esti- mated that some 3.3 million Muslims live in the United States, with the potential for as many as 6.6 million by 2050. The aver- age Muslim household has 4.9 members, with a wide age range in the house. Of course not all Muslims are Arab- Americans; many are second- or third-gen- eration Americans with roots in other Muslim countries, and some are immi- grants from around the globe. Pew reported in that study that the world's 1.6 billion Muslims are the majority in 49 countries. Indonesia is home to the largest popula- tion, while India has the second-largest population. Indeed, said the Pew report, a ban on Muslim immigration from the seven countries named in President Donald Trump's executive order would affect just 12 percent of the world's Muslims. "As the United States becomes more di- verse, there is an increasing opportunity for food producers to differentiate their products and gain price premiums," said a Penn State Extension report on how pro- ducers can market to Muslims. "However, as with any market segment, the marketer must get to know the customer. The Muslim audience has particu- lar religious beliefs that con- strain their diets. By providing foods that fit Muslims' pre- scribed diets, producers may be able to di- versify their markets and increase their profitability." What is halal? Muslims follow dietary rules on what is "halal," or acceptable, and what is "haram," or forbidden. In Islam, eating is as much a form of worship as prayer, and observant Muslims are careful to follow the rules. Halal begins with how animals are fed and raised, and follows through to slaugh- ter, when the animals must be quickly killed by hand, and their blood drained. Animal byproducts such as blood, gelatin and processed dairy prod- ucts made with enzymes or additional proteins from an- imals are prohibited. Alco- hol is also strictly forbidden, and that includes flavoring extracts made with alcohol, as is pork. The Muslim customer at Starbucks, for example, will find her choices severely limited because of the alco- hol in vanilla extract, which is used in many drinks and almost all baked goods. She would know that before she went into Starbucks, how- ever, if she looked at Mus- limConsumerGroup.com, which maintains lists of halal and haram foods, personal care items and more. Colgate understood halal/haram early, and most of its toothpastes, including one flavored to taste like the traditional miswak twigs used as toothbrushes, are halal be- cause they contain no alcohol or car- rageenan (which may have been processed with alcohol). "There are many levels of halal, just like there are many levels of kosher," says Saf- fron Road's Durrani. "Ideas of halal are cur- rently going through an evolution, just as kosher did during the 1940s." Muslim or not, many customers appreci- ate the standards that halal labeling can offer. For Millennials particularly, ethical consumerism ― the idea that a shopper ef- fectively votes with her dollar by buying food with production practices she sup- ports ― is just par for the course. "Most of the people (buying our products) are not Muslim, but they just love the values that we espouse around halal," Durrani said. "Transparency is very important to them, and we try to be very transparent with con- sumers about everything that we do." In Saffron Road's case, he said, that in- cludes following the strictest certifications for animal welfare. "We have met the stan- dards of the highest levels of humane wel- fare in the world, and that's what I consider halal," Durrani said. That certification comes from Certified Humane, which fol- lows slaughter guidelines written by Dr. Temple Grandin, the world-renowned au- thority on animal behavior. "For us, it's clean ingredients, making sure that the livestock is family farmed and 100 percent vegetarian fed, with the live- stock actively socialized and raised in a stress-free environment that promotes healthy behavior for the animal," said Dur- rani. "It's the sacredness of our food system, whether that's the livestock, the plants they eat or the farmland they graze on. We look at the whole life of the animal, not just at its slaughter." Marketing opportunities The halal market offers rapid growth to savvy retailers, experts say. "This is an in- credible opportunity," Durrani said. "It's a consumer group that has been so beaten down because of xenophobia that if you go toward them one inch, they come running to you. It's a disenfranchised community. The impact of marketing to this disenfran- chised community has a significant upside with very little risk, and the upside so out- weighs the little amount of risk." Embracing inclusiveness is a "ubiquitous value that a lot of Americans aspire to. There's a celebration of diversity in Amer- ica," Durrani said. "Don't push anyone away ― create a bigger tent and invite everyone to come into the tent." Istizada is a Jordanian marketing agency that specializes in the Arab world and counts Microsoft as one of its clients. Its name is the Arabic word for "a striving for more; pursuit of an increase, expansion or extension; or a desire or request for more." The company notes that Ramadan, which ended June 24 this year, presents big mar- keting opportunities ― as many retailers, such as Burger King, have observed. The month-long observance of daylight fasting and evening feasting will begin in 2018 on May 15 and end June 14. "Without having experienced Ramadan, one would assume food consumption would be down during the month … since it is a month of fasting. This is not the case, though," Istizada wrote in a blog post. "Food consumption surges during the month as families feast in the evenings after many hours of not eating. Ramadan is also a time to spend more on delicacies and meat. It is common see to shortages of cer- tain types of food during the season, and in some countries, some consumers start stockpiling before the holiday." Durrani agrees that Ramadan is a huge opportunity. "It's like 30 Thanksgivings in a row," he said. Consumers "buy a lot of groceries to load up before the fast, which is a wonderful community engagement. It's like a potluck in which (the observant) bring food to celebrate the sundown end of the fast. During that month, we see our sales spike 200 to 600 percent, just in that one month." For retailers, attracting Ramadan shop- pers is easy, he said. "To reset an aisle for Ramadan, they can simply set up a sign that says ' Get your Ramadan food here.' " There are other Muslim holidays as well that present opportunities for retailers, said Istizada. Note that these dates change an- nually, and the dates here are for 2017. These include: Eid al-Fitr, the feast that marks the end of Ramadan (June 25-28 this year, June 14-17 in 2018). Hajj, a five-day pil- grimage that begins on the eighth day of the final month in the Is- lamic calendar. (Aug. 30- Sept. 4) Eid al-Adha is the sec- ond most important Muslim holiday and marks the end of Hajj. As with Eid al-Fitr, Muslims are required to share food and money on this holiday, and spend money on gifts for family and friends. (Sept 1-5) Islamic New Year falls on the first day of the first month of the new year. (Sept. 21-22) Prophet Mohammad's Birthday is a con- tested holiday and some conservative Mus- lims reject its celebration. Consult local experts to make sure it's appropriate to pro- mote in your area. (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) The Muslim market is big and getting bigger. "Twenty-five years ago, the Hispanic market was identified as huge. Today, the Latino and Hispanic market is about $1 trillion. Halal will be the next bigger mar- ket," said Durrani. "The halal movement has a lot of wind at its back, and I think it's going to be that way for a while." Indeed, wrote Hussein Elasrag in a 2016 paper titled "Halal Industry: Key Chal- lenges and Opportunities," "For brands that find ways to embrace and engage the Muslim consumer, the rewards are rich. And smart, compelling communications will play a critical role in targeting a con- sumer market that already represents nearly a quarter of humanity." GN Smart Retailers See Value in Courting Muslim Shoppers

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