The growth opportunity of halal food showcased at annual festival

Toronto festival focuses on growing Halal Food market in Canada

For the second year in a row, Halal Food Fest TO presented by Mina Halal drew a crowd out to the International Centre on June 14-15. The weather was picture perfect and despite the World Cup opening weekend, Father's Day and a few other community events happening in the city, the festival successfully hosted over 27,000 attendees.

READ: As Muslim population rises, an industry emerges around halal

Concentrated primarily on the booming halal food service sector, there were many advances in the retail market that provided Toronto's large and growing Muslim population with convenience and money saving options that adhere to religious guidelines.

Mina Halal showcased their growing line of halal meat products while Redpath sugar educated crowds with their sugar refining process; why they’re certified vegan and how traditional processes use bone char, making many sugar brands not suitable for vegetarians and religious groups who have restrictions with consuming meat.

READ: Say hello to halal

Inside Sample City, the heart of the festival, Niagara Valley Halal Beef Bacon by Riz Global Foods was introduced as well as pre-marinated ready to cook halal meals from Kebab Factory. Convenience seemed to be the name of the game, but lifestyle driven products that connect more to newer generations are slowly starting to emerge. One product by Paan Express has developed a compact version that’s easy to carry and use. Paan is a South Asian breath mint - a complicated and beautiful looking mouth freshener of sorts. It consists of tailored mixture, soaked in a syrup and then wrapped up in a betel leaf. Their version is compact, packaged like gum that you can travel with and eat on the go.

Adonis made a lasting impression with their impressive booth that offered their grocery store experience on a smaller scale. Festivalgoers were invited to try out many products that are considered staples to their chain such as their assortment of dried fruits and nuts, halloumi cheese, deli meat and more.

READ: Adonis opens second grocery store in Ontario

Halal Food Festival Toronto is the largest of it's kind in North America with plans to expand to other Canadian cities in the near future. Since the festival's inception in 2012, it's been paving the way for emerging new business in Canada.