Agro Perspectiva

Nestlé expands halal presence during Ramadan

25.08.2010 11:19 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — Nestlé expands its halal presence with the launch of its ’Flavours of Ramadan’ range throughout the Islamic fasting period. Under Nestrade — a global trading ethnic business within the Nestlé group — halal-certified brands such as Maggi, Nido, Carnation and Milo are being offered to consumers through a promotion at 27 ‘COOP’ megastores in Switzerland, during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar where Muslims take part in fasting from dawn until sunset. As part of the ’Taste of Home by Nestlé’ campaign first developed as a marketing initiative in 2004, this scheme offers a wider range of ethnic foods sold in ethnic convenience stores, or ’Mom and Pop’ stores. ’Taste of Home by Nestlé’, which saw strong growth of around 50% each year with strong profitability, and was extended last year to focus predominantly on halal with products already being sold in thousands of specialised ethnic stores throughout Europe. In reaffirming its halal presence worldwide, Nestlé also came in as number two in the Noor index, a recent study of how consumers ranked more than 30 well-known brands for compliance with Shariah, or Islamic law. Led by Ogilvy Noor, under Ogilvy & Mather — an international advertising, marketing, and public relations agency based in New York — the index scored the appeal of brands to Muslim consumers. As one of the first multinationals to pursue the global halal market, worth an estimated USD 2.1 trillion annually, since the 1980s Nestlé has been offering halal versions of well-known products right across its range of food and beverages. This includes confectionery such as Kit Kat and Smarties, Maggi soups, Nido and Neslac milk, Milo malted drinks and Nescafé coffee, accounting for 5% of Nestlé’s annual sales, around CHF 5.3 billion. Of Nestlé’s 456 factories worldwide, 85 have a halal certification with 154 halal-certified production lines situated mainly in Indonesia, South Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Malaysia, with Malaysia as the Halal Excellence Centre and biggest halal food producer within the Nestlé Group, exporting to more than 50 countries worldwide. Also, 20 of Nestlé’s factories in Europe have halal-certified production lines, for example Nestlé’s Konolfingen factory in Switzerland produces halal-certified Nido milk power for export to South-East Asia. Nestlé halal products are labelled with a certification that provides assurance that it is manufactured, imported and distributed under the strictest hygienic and sanitary conditions, in accordance with the Islamic faith. Halal, which literally means permissible, is a way of living that all Muslims must adhere to. Halal in a food context specifically means food and drink which is allowed under the Islamic law. An Islamic inspection authority such as the Halal Feed & Food Inspection Authority (HFFIA) or the Islamic Food Council of Europe inspects Nestlé factories along with a Nestlé halal committee member to ensure that products comply before the halal logo can be used.