WELLINGTON: New Zealand is known for an economy dependent on agriculture, but it is also a leading exporter of halal meat to Muslim countries including Indonesia. However, the growing demand for halal-compliant foods surpasses New Zealand’s supply capability, and the country is looking to partner up with others to promote the business.
Most meat processing facilities in New Zealand have already been granted halal certification, an endorsement for food produced and processed in accordance with Islamic dietary laws. Silver Fern Farms, for example, is a meat exporters’ cooperative consisting of some 16,000 producers of beef, mutton and venison, and 14 out of 16 of its domestic facilities have already been certified.
Anzco Foods, a subsidiary of Itoham Foods, a Japanese meat producer and processor, has acquired certification for all seven of its processing locations in New Zealand. Once known as Britain’s South Pacific farm, New Zealand lost its key export destination when the U.K. joined the European Community. In the 1980s, New Zealand increasingly acquired halal certifications in a bid to expand into the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
