- Reem El Shafaki
- Sep 14, 2016
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 23, 2022
Muslims are a rapidly growing customer segment, reaching 5.8million consumers in 2015 and commanded $107 billion in annual disposable income in 2015. The ecosystem of products and services addressing Muslim faith-based needs has evolved substantially, with many new players seeking to emulate the remarkable success stories of Saffron Road and the Halal Guys.
Select key and emerging player developments in the U.S. across lifestyle sectors
Halal food and consumer products:
Select key and emerging player developments in the U.S. across lifestyle sectors:
Saffron Road revenues surpassed $40 million in 2015, and was recognized as the fastest growing brand of all entrees in the U.S. The company undertook its first acquisition, of Canadian Snack brand Mediterranean foods, in 2015. Starting out as a food cart operation in New York City, Halal Guys is a U.S. Halal success story, with plans to expand to 340 locations globally, including across the U.S. and into Malaysia, Canada, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Noor Pharmaceuticals has experienced substantial growth, increasing headcount to over 100 people in 2015, and partnering. With the major U.S. including Duane Reade, Whole Foods and Walgreens. The company has also partnered with Islamic Relief in 2016 to donate meals to those in need in the U.S.
Honest Chops is the country’s first wholesale organic Halal meat retail store, founded in New York city founded in early 2014, opening a fast-food outlet, Honest Chops Burger, in 2016
Paramount Fine Foods, based in Canada, is emerging as a sizeable North American Halal Food restaurant chain, founded in 2007 and having now established over 30 Middle Eastern Halal restaurants and over 20 currently under construction. The company has expanded to the US and is one of the few Halal companies that have addressed the “farm-to-fork” experience.
SprinJene is a US-based certified Halal toothpaste brand, certified by ISWA. The toothpaste products are also certified gluten free, vegan and kosher. Several major events were held since the 2014 AMCC conference which have furthered interest in the Halal Food and Products industry, including the 2015 ISNA conference, attracting 15,000 people, and several Halal Food fests, including Halal Fest Fremont, attracting 15,000 and in Canada, Halal Food Toronto, attracting 10,000 people.
Islamic-themed Media:
DEEN TV is the first 24/7 Halal online entertainment channel and is currently seeking to raise $150,000 for the development of its studio, equipment and staff with an aim to offer better and varied programming. Deen TV was founded by Native Deen, a leading Islamic music production company.
Productive Muslim, which debuted as a blog in 2007, has now scaled to become a media/training company offering online courses as well as live workshops. The company also recently authored the Productive Muslim book, co-authored by Tariq Ramadan.
Modest Fashion:
Verona Collection, an Islamic modest fashion company that produces hijabs, dresses, cardigans, and activewear, is one of the first Muslim women’s clothing stores to open in a Mainstream mall, opening its store at Orlando Fashion Square mall in May 2015.
Veil is a highly innovative modest fashion company founded in 2015 and raised close to $40,000 in a Kickstarter campaign, and in 2016 launched their “Cool-Dry” hijabs, which are waterproof and heat resistant.
Finance and Incubation:
Launchgood, winner of the 2014 AMCC Entrepreneurship Showcase Award, has crowd-funded over $11 million in projects across over 1,000 projects, and acted as a key source of support for social impact initiatives and Muslim entrepreneurial ventures.
Affinis Labs is a United States-based incubator with global reach founded in 2015 and seeking to incubate startups that develop products and services to address the Digital needs of Muslim consumers.
U.S. based Digital Muslim Startups:
There has been significant development in the Digital Services system addressing the varied needs of Muslims, with select innovations including:
Islamic Finance: Sharia Portfolio is a boutique asset management firm specialized in Sharia-compliant investing solutions from a team of investment advisors. Sharia Portfolio has grown to $50 million in less than 2 years of operation.
Quran memorization: Quran Academy seeks to help dedicated users to better meet their Quran memorization goals and was accepted into Start-Up Chile and Malaysia’s MaGIC Accelerator Program Quran Academy, and subsequently launched Quran companion.
Online media: Muslim Kids TV is an online television and media platform for children that has content focused on Islamic based values through interactive videos and games, seeking to emanate the style of highly popular children’s programs such as Sesame Street.
Online media content platform: The Tempest is a media company that provides visual and written content focused on entertainment and lifestyle sectors for women, with a substantial focus on Islamic lifestyle content.
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