The Halal Revolution

by Mohsin Asharia

With a new halal Subway store open in Purley Way, we are witnessing a halal revolution from the popular sandwich retailer. Only one year ago, on 27 June 2007, the first halal Subway store in the UK opened in Walthamstow. A search of the website now indicates there are over 50 halal Subways in the UK, and, with aims to double stores in the UK to 2010 outlets by the year 2010, I wouldn’t be surprised if that number has risen further by the time this goes to press.

Of course, for many, Halal Subways are nothing new. Although a novelty in the UK, Subway has had a presence in Tanzania for over eight years. The owner of the four Subway stores in Tanzania, Mahmood Panju, who attends Dar es Salaam Jamaat, spoke to Federation Samachar, the magazine of the Africa Federation, saying that he aims to have ten stores by 2010 Inshallah.

Subway has hit the Middle East by storm too. There are 44 outlets in the UAE, 27 in KSA, 28 in Kuwait, and even 20 in Iraq. Of course, this is a far cry from the 1182 now in the UK, which is further overshadowed by over 20,000 in the US, but the figures demonstrate that Subway is the fastest growing franchise in the world. In fact, a brand new Subway outlet opens every 3 hours 20 mins somewhere across the globe.

So is this “Halal Revolution” reserved to Subway? Perhaps not. Nando’s already have dozens of Halal restaurants in the UK, and McDonalds recently ran a trial in Southall with a halal chicken menu. Halal McDonalds in the West are already present, such as in Melbourne, Australia.

Similarly KFC in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the highest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East, recently made its stores there halal, and Dearborn’s Walmart went a step further, stocking Muslim greeting cards, employing 35 Arabic speaking staff, and even moving the pork section to a less prominent aisle, as well as providing halal meat.

It is evident the Muslim market has been identified as having potential. It therefore seems like we can look forward to a future of halal delights in the Western World.