Singapore’s domestic Halal dining market will continue to grow, with local Muslim millennials a key force driving this sector. The finding is in a new Mastercard-CrescentRating Halal Food Lifestyle – Singapore 2021 report presented last week. The research revealed that the local halal food scene is worth S$700 million (US$518 million) in 2019. What’s more, Muslim visitors to Singapore spent an additional S$300 million, making the total worth of the local halal dining market S$1 billion in 2019. Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating and HalalTrip, said that although COVID-19 disrupted market movement in 2020, current findings still indicate a short to medium term domestic market potential post-COVID.
Not enough halal options for European cuisines
The report also focussed on cuisines lacking halal options such as French, Mexican, Greek and Spanish. There are several factors why there is a lack, said chef Muhammad Kamal, honorary president of the Singapore Halal Culinary Federation. These include the challenge of maintaining the dishes' authenticity despite limited halal-certified ingredients. Most of these foods have alcohol drink pairings, he said. Local chefs also need more training on preparing halal versions of these cuisines. But these challenges aside, he also thinks that Singapore’s halal offerings need to be marketed more overseas.
“We are already known for good food with plenty of halal option. The next best thing for us is to aggressively or at least sustain halal food-related events here and overseas. This is to ensure top of mind recall with our consumers,” he told Tasty Asia.
“Maintain the pace here and yes, do more internationally,” He concluded.
(Image from Unsplash)
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