The emerging Halal cosmetic and personal care market

Halal products are very quickly entering the mainstream markets within Europe and the United States. In addition the ‘Halal’ concept is becoming much more sophisticated in the Middle East and some Asian countries. Muslim consumer Halal awareness has widened from being concerned with meat-based products a decade ago to a wide range of products today. Muslim consumers are seeking Halal integrity of processed foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, insurance, travel, leather products, and even entertainment. This has also spread to a growing awareness about cosmetics and personal care products, where recent research has cited that more than 20% of Muslim consumers are concerned about Halal issues with the products they are using.1 Halal personal care products in the market today include hair shampoos, conditioners, bath and shower gels, cleansers, creams, lotions, talc and baby powders, toners, make up, perfumes, eau de colognes and oral care products. In contrast to personal care, cosmetic market growth is not uniform and slightly slower than personal care segments, as modesty has an important influence on Muslim female consumers. However this varies according to the country and upbringing where some women wear a full length style robe and veil while others do not.

Market size

There are various estimates about the current size of the Halal cosmetic market ranging from US$5-14 billion sales per annum. These estimates probably vary due to the different definitions given to what constitute Halal products, where in some markets, particularly in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, all products have been considered Halal due to their predominately Muslim populations.2 About half these sales are in the Middle East, with US$2.1 billion sales in Saudi Arabia alone.3 Although per-capita consumption rates are not as high in other Islamic markets, sales are growing around 15% per annum according to the author’s own estimate. Halal or Islamic cosmetics are now available in many places, including onboard sales on Saudi Airlines,4 supermarkets (including in Europe and the US), specialty Halal shops and widely through the internet. Some manufacturers have integrated the concepts of Halal, organic and fairtrade into their products in the European market.5 Given that one person in five is Muslim in the world and Muslims in Western countries are becoming more aware of Islamic teachings, the Halal cosmetic market should continue to grow solidly. There are two major parts of the potential certified Halal market, country markets where the Muslim population make up the majority and country markets where Muslim consumers are a minority group. This represents around 20% of the global population. The major countries in these two markets are shown in Table 1 and Table 2.6 The markets listed in the Table 1 vary greatly in the stage of development and are relatively heterogeneous due to differing individual country tastes and preferences, although specific markets will tend to be homogeneous due to similar cultural, historical and social consumption traits. Markets like Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Iraq, Sudan, Uzbekistan etc., have low per capita incomes, where aggregate consumption of many consumer items would be very low, until some further development takes place. Despite the relative affluence of the UAE and other Arab Gulf States, in some cases supply chains are still typically third world. In Asia, rural and urban populations have vastly differing aspirations and values, and South Asian Muslims speak a multitude of different languages and practice different customs. We also see the Muslims of Northern Africa are vastly different in dress and custom from the Muslims of Turkey and Iran for example. Some Muslims identify more strongly with Western values than others, therefore different markets will have different needs.