June 26, 2014

Russia's Spiritual Administration of Muslims says that the halal meat industry in Russia is growing rapidly with about 12% of all meat produced now officially certified as halal.

As the country's largest agricultural companies plan to start production of halal poultry meat, beef and mutton, that figure is expected to rise to 20% by 2020.

Konstantin Korneev, executive director of the consulting company Rincon Management, said that halal products already account for at least 10% of the total beef and mutton market in Russia.

Albert Davleev, head of the Russian department of the US Poultry and Eggs Export Council (USAPEEC), commented, "The niche halal sector is quickly transforming into an important market segment. So far, according to data in Russia, the halal sector produces about 1.3 million tonnes of poultry meat, beef, mutton and other meat products, but only 0.5 tonnes of them are certified and labelled accordingly."

Halal products have a very high reputation among Russian consumers, which is an important driver for the development of the halal meat market.

"One of the main conditions for the production of halal products is that they must be exceptionally clean [from biological substances and additives]. So in many countries, including Russia, halal products are not perceived as a religious product, but as a product of higher quality in terms of production, processing and storage," said Davleev.