The making of Malaysia as a global halal hub: A preliminary inquiry into the perception of Malaysian consumers

Halal label on food products are increasingly seen by the user in Malaysia, especially Muslim consumers. Yet the extent that consumers knowledge and understand the halal concept is still being discussed. This paper analyses the perceptions of halal food among Malaysian consumers based on the findings of a preliminary field survey involving 40 users. Halal perception was measured in terms of respondents’ agreement to the official conferment of the halal status. The results showed that on average respondents agreed on the imperative of an officialy endorsed halal status on halal food although the perception varied between high and medium levels of urgency. One important take away from the findings is the need to probe further into the underlying causes of the apparent doubts of consumers as to the authenticity of the current halal labelling process of food items in Malaysia. It goes without saying that the making of Malaysia into a global halal hub hinges on the absolute reliability of the halal guaranteeing process.