ABSTRACT
BOX 24.1: HALAL OR NON-HALAL? Does Halal meat taste so different from non-Halal meat? Should we be bothered or, more importantly, should we even care? Depending upon your ethnic background, the size of your organization or the country you live in, the responses may vary from indifference to strongly emotional. (In case you do not know what Halal meat is, it is meat where the animal has been killed in such a way that the body is drained of its blood, as prescribed by Islamic law. At the same time prayers are said for the animal’s soul as recognition for the loss of its life, which makes it in some ways more considerate than the way the West slaughters its animals.)
In fact the issue of Halal meat, in 2010, has become a hugely political issue in France where a franchised burger chain recently introduced Halal meat into its burger recipes. The restaurant, situated in a Paris suburb and operating as an SME, simply responded to its predominately Muslim community’s needs and witnessed its sales increase rapidly over the following weeks. As far as business goes, this makes great commercial sense. After all, marketing gurus have spent years extolling the values of giving your customers what you want and reaping the profits in return.
