London: Halal food

British supermarket chain Tesco will sell Malaysian halal products in its London stores starting next year in an effort to cater to the city's large Muslim population, news reports said Saturday.

Tesco Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. will buy locally produced halal food - which conforms to Islamic dietary rules - worth 1 billion ringgit ($278 million) over the next five years for sale in Britain, national news agency Bernama and local dailies reported.

The export of Malaysian halal products will "help Malaysia to develop quickly into a global halal hub," Bernama quoted Tesco Malaysia chief executive James McCaan as saying in Ipoh, the capital of the northern state of Perak.

Tesco officials could not be immediately reached over the weekend.

The Star newspaper quoted McCaan as saying the products would start to appear on shelves in some 40 Tesco outlets, mostly in London and north London, by April next year. About 1.7 million Muslims lives in these two areas, he said.

Malaysia, which earlier this month hosted the World Halal Forum, has stated its aim to become a global hub for Islamic halal food by 2010, using its edge over other Muslim nations in trading, logistics, banking and halal certification.

Source: Seatllepi (English)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310AP_Malaysia_Tesco_Halal.html

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