REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DUBAI - Datamonitor, a company that provides market and data analysis, said halal food already accounted for about a fifth of world food trade and the Muslim market was growing substantially. According to a Global Futures and Foresights Study, 70 percent of the world's population increase from 7 billion today to 9 billion people by 2050 will be born in Muslim countries.

Already in Muslim-majority countries, outlets like McDonald's, Subway and Papa John's pizza serve halal to their customers.

In the US, the family-run Midamar Corporation, based out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been tapping into the halal market since 1974. Midamar exports American beef and chicken to around 35 countries.

Jalel Aossey said the company's halal certification comes from an organization his father started called the Islamic Services of America, which he says was the first of its kind in the US.

Today there are around 30 halal certification bodies in the US and several mainstream supermarkets that carry halal food items.

Even in markets where Muslims are not the majority, there are billions of dollars to be made in the halal industry. The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, a not-for-profit halal certification organization, said the domestic US halal market is estimated at 20 billion USD.

Mark Napier, director of the Gulfood trade show that brings together more than 4,500 food and beverage vendors from around the world to the Dubai World Trade Center annually, said producers of halal products want to serve markets where their supply is not keeping up with demand. Many Muslims in the West buy Jewish kosher products when their halal counterparts are not available.

"Food business is big business," Napier said. "Producers are increasingly aware of the need for halal standards and certification and bringing that to the fore of their export promotions."

US manufacturers, such as Kelloggs and Hershey, plan to build halal-compliant plants in Malaysia. The Oxford Business Group says Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, plans to establish a center for the halal industry in 2015. In Thailand, more than a quarter of food factories are already making halal products.

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