The Ease Of Shopping Halal Food For Iftar Menu In The UK

Residents of Southampton, England shop at a kosher food store in the Saint Mary's area of Southampton. (Photo: Munawir Aziz/Antara)

JAKARTA - For Muslims, halal food is an inevitability. Therefore, access to halal meat and foodstuffs is certainly very important. In a United Kingdom where Muslims make up only about 5 percent, shopping for halal food is not as difficult as imagined.

Especially in Ramadan, Muslims are used to breaking the fast with their families. Variety of food menu requires a variety of halal food ingredients. Then, how do Indonesian Muslims living in the UK get halal food?

Reported by Antara, Thursday, April 15, Siti Wahadi, a Muslim who lives in London, said that she always buys halal food once a week. Halal butcher shops scattered in the London area make it easy for consumers to access the desired halal groceries.

"I always shop for halal food in Arabic and Turkish stores, these shops are very complete, all halal and sometimes there is food from Asia, the name of the shop Cheam Arena, Groceries, located in Worcester Park, Surrey, is only 10 minutes away from my house. We are very happy because we have never had difficulty shopping for halal food, especially meat, in addition the meat is also cheaper and cleaner," said Wahadi, who is also a migrant worker activist in the UK.

Wahadi claimed to be used to breaking the fast with his friends or neighbors during Ramadan, but the lockdown rules of the British government made him unable to do his custom this year.

"Regarding open together, if not pandemic season as it is today, we usually open together in the Office of the Embassy of London. Alternatively, there's also the London Central Mosque, a mosque in The Regent's Park area that we can hold open together with fellow Muslim immigrants from different countries, so it's great fun," he said. According to the treasurer in an institution engaged in philanthropy as well as ammil zakat, infak and alms, at the event the participants will share food brought from home.

In the UK, halal food has become a promising economic commodity. Data from the Agriculture and Holticulture Development Board (AHDB) in June 2020, the halal food industry has increased rapidly. The Uk people's budget for halal food and drink, reached an estimated £4.64 million (£92.6 billion). According to the data, halal food and drink make up 8 per cent of total grocery spending overall in the UK.

Although the muslim population in the UK is around 2,600,000 citizens or 5.02 percent, halal beef consumption reaches 20 percent of the total. According to the ADHB report, halal food consumers in the UK want an increase in the number of goods, food variations, certification to the best quality.

Ifan Rikhza Auladi, a graduate student at the University of Exeter, revealed that he prefers to buy halal food that is raw rather than cooked. He said access to halal food in The City of Exeter was fairly easy, making it free to choose ready-to-cook ingredients.

"If for halal foodstuffs such as meat there are some shops that sell in Exeter. For cooked food has never been bought because of the lockdown atmosphere and rethink because the price is expensive too. It is better to buy groceries to cook with friends," said Ifan who received a scholarship from the Education Fund Management Institute (LPDP).

For students like Ifan, daily consumption must be arranged so that scholarship money is sufficient for needs and can even be saved. Therefore, managing a budget is important, while also maintaining a balance between saving and spending money, especially for meals and holidays.

For Ifan, who left without family to Exeter, gathering with fellow Indonesians is one way to let go of longing with family in the country. But the pandemic allowed him to spend only time with his boarding school friends considering the number of Indonesian students in Exeter is not as much as in other cities.

"Stories from friends usually gather Indonesian students but because it is still the atmosphere of the pandemic so it can not be carried out ... Good... familiarity is easy to entwine to like your own brother," he said.

Jamalia, a Muslim living in Southampton, England, said that the Muslim community in The United Kingdom is getting squirming. "Today, Muslims in the UK are growing in number. Islamic activities are increasingly stretched. I feel that when comparing from three years ago, when I first set foot in England. So, more and more agendas and activities from the Muslim community in the UK, especially in Southampton," said Jamalia who is also a doctoral student in mathematics, University of Southampton.

According to him, to get halal food is quite easy in the UK. "For us, it is quite easy to get halal food, both meat and other foodstuffs. We often shop to Saint Mary's area, it is the location of halal shops run by Pakistanis. In addition, I also often go to international food halal stores in portswood area, Southampton," he said.

He also said that now large retail stores such as Asda, Aldi and Liddle, have provided halal meat given the growing potential of consumers.

"This will make it easier for us to buy," said Jamalia who also pioneered start-up CodeforKids, a platform to educate children learning coding.

For Indonesian Muslims in the United Kingdom, halal food shops that are usually run by Arabs, Pakistanis and Turks are a reference when shopping. And because of the large number of halal food shopping has never been a problem for Muslims in the UK.