Danisco to Target the Growing Halal Dairy Product Market

2 Nov 2010 --- According to market news service HalalFocus, the global market for halal products overall is $632 billion – and growing. In this light, cheese manufacturers have much to gain from the halal approval of Danisco’s CHOOZIT Cheese Cultures.

Danisco can offer manufacturers new opportunities to meet growing consumer demand for halal-labelled dairy products. A string of internationally recognised halal certifications at key production plants allows the ingredient company to supply a broad range of halal cultures for cheese and yogurt production and halal cheese coagulants.

The aim is to give manufacturers increased flexibility when producing foods acceptable to the 25% of the world’s population who are Muslim. Danisco’s halal certifications are recognised by MUI, Indonesia’s top clerical body, which sets the global halal standards.

According to market news service HalalFocus, the global market for halal products overall is $632 billion and growing. In this light, cheese manufacturers have much to gain from the halal approval of Danisco’s CHOOZIT Cheese Cultures.

“Halal cultures are a prerequisite of halal whey, enabling cheese manufacturers to capture opportunities when selling whey to the growing halal food market”, says Caroline de Lamarliere, global business director for cheese ripening cultures.

One illustration of the market potential for which halal is a door opener is the year-on-year value growth of whey imports into Indonesia, which the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Drug Administration puts at more than 20%.

The halal certification of Danisco’s YO-MIX Yogurt Cultures is also a major opportunity for the fermented dairy products sector, as Sonia Huppert, YO-MIX global business director explains:

“We are now better equipped to help manufacturers meet the traditionally high demand for yogurt and drinking yogurt products in the growing halal markets of North Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and not forgetting western countries, where we see significant growth.”

Danisco’s halal range includes CHOOZIT Cheese Cultures, YO-MIX Yogurt Cultures, TEXEL Meat Cultures and Carlina and Marzyme coagulants. The most recent Danisco plant to obtain halal certification is at Dangé Saint Romain in France. Other certified plants are at Vinay, Sassenage and Epernon in France and Niebüll in Germany. The cultures plant in Madison, USA, is in the certification process.