Many consumer products and services that enter and are traded in Indonesia must be halal-certified after its new Halal Law recently came into force.

The law decrees that the sourcing, handling, processing and labeling of all consumer products should adhere to stringent halal regulations by 2024.

“Food and beverage products are the first mandated category, and the government says the law will give Muslim consumers’ confidence that all ingredients contained in edible products are faith-compliant,” said the Euromonitor Digest, the online publication of the Export Management Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The report said 52 percent of Indonesian consumers eat religious-compliant foods all the time.

But Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim population, wants to instill Islamic principles into a range of sectors, including food production and distribution, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and finance.

“While Indonesia is taking affirmative action to ensure companies and consumers clearly understand the state-directed transition towards a Sharia economy, a broader awareness is emerging that halal compliance applies far beyond food,” it said.

The report said forward-thinking brands thus are enticing Muslim customers by tailoring products and services across a range of sectors.

“With modest fashions, sportswear, banking and hotel services having taken a lead, more businesses are expected to create and market product ranges that fuse the lifestyle and religious choices of Muslim Millennial consumers and travelers,” it added.