Taipei - Taiwan is encouraging its food exporters to tap the Muslim world's huge market for halal food, but the response has been lukewarm so far as companies do not yet see a profit in producing food that complies with Islamic law. At the 2009 Taipei International Food Show, held from Tuesday untilFriday, Taiwan for the first time opened a Halal Pavilion with some 40 companies setting up booths.
The halal foods they showcased were few - rice, biscuits, soya sauce, vinegar, picked vegetables, chocolate paste and an ice desert called "Snow Ice."
Many Taiwanese queued up for a free cup of Snow Ice, but few foreign buyers placed orders for the halal products.
"Some South-East Asian buyers stopped by and talked with us, but they did not place orders," Hsu Chih-ho, manager of the ASI channel Service Co Ltd, which makes fruit vinegar, said.
At the booth across the aisle, Fufann Enterprise drew a small crowd tasting its chocolate-covered biscuits.
"We have just received the halal certificate, but haven't begun exporting to Muslim countries yet. We are here to find buyers," a company representative said.
Their products include chocolate paste, sesame paste, coconut paste, creamy paste and garlic paste which can be put on toast or bread.
But the Charmy Food Co Ltd that sells Snow Ice is optimistic about the export market for its halal Snow Ice - a bowl of shaved ice topped with fruits and nuts.
"We plan to open franchises in India and Jordan in the coming year, and are looking to move into other Muslim countries," Charmy manager Hsu Shih-ho said.
Some Taiwan companies, though not producing halal food in Taiwan, have opened factories abroad to produce halal food there.
The Uni-President Enterprises Corp, Taiwan's largest food conglomerate, has opened factories in several South-East Asian countries, and its plants in Vietnam and Indonesia have obtained the halal certificate, company spokeswoman Wu Hsu-hui said.
Taiwan is one of the world's top-20 exporting countries and has a good reputation for its food products - meat, fruits, vegetables and drinks.
In 2008, Taiwan's food exports totalled 2.7 billion US dollars, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
Yet producing halal food is only a recent thing, and it has been overshadowed by the rush of Taiwan food companies to open factories in China, the world's largest production base and consumer market.
Taiwan began to encourage its food exporters to tap the halal food market in 2006, with TAITRA holding introduction seminars and the Chinese Muslim Association (CMA) - Taiwan's highest Musli
