June 4, 2025 | Data technology

Building Halal Trust: Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Supply Chain

By Dr. Marco Tieman

When sourcing ingredients and distributing products globally, how can you ensure halal integrity is maintained?

Thanks to globalisation, supply chains have become increasingly complex, making it more difficult than ever to safeguard halal integrity throughout the supply chain and value chain. Simultaneously, shifting consumer behaviour and the rapid spread of information have made it crucial for businesses to prioritise halal compliance. Failing to do so can quickly erode consumer trust and damage a brand’s halal reputation—especially in Muslim countries it serves.

But whose responsibility is this? How should a brand respond and address potential breaches in halal compliance? How can a business balance the expectations of its diverse stakeholders—board members, CEOs, employees, customers, investors, and supply chain partners? And more fundamentally, what does the halal logo on a product truly signify?

Halal Trust

In my book Halal Business Management: A Guide to Achieving Halal Excellence, I define halal trust as “the belief of the Muslim consumer in the halal integrity of the product or service in accordance with his or her faith.” This trust is not built solely on the presence of a halal logo, but on a holistic framework encompassing five key building blocks: excellence, transparency, halal authenticity, intention, and certification.

• Excellence (Ihsan) represents the balanced pursuit of both halal compliance and product quality.
• Transparency fosters openness in business operations and decision-making processes, encouraging consumer confidence.
• Halal authenticity reflects the company’s intrinsic commitment to halal values, and the organisational maturity to uphold them.
• Intention (Niyyah) is the ethical and religious commitment of the organisation to uphold Islamic law and ensure the sincerity of its halal policies.
• Certification, while visible through the halal logo, is underpinned by the brand owner’s broader responsibility to ensure compliance across its entire supply chain.

Halal trust varies between markets, particularly in Muslim-majority countries, where consumer expectations and regulatory scrutiny are often higher. Therefore, measuring and monitoring halal trust across different regions can serve as a strategic performance indicator for brand owners.

Despite widespread adoption of supplier codes of conduct, halal requirements are often vaguely defined or entirely omitted from contracts, internal guidelines, and audit procedures. Yet as halal compliance evolves from a product-focused concept to a supply chain and value chain approach—increasingly mandated by law, as seen in Indonesia—this gap must be urgently addressed. The journey to controlling your halal supply chain begins with measuring it.

Halal Supply Chain Rating

The HSC Alliance has recently introduced a Halal Supply Chain Rating, a pioneering global benchmark of halal excellence. The 5-Star Halal Supply Chain Rating serves as formal recognition for companies that demonstrate outstanding halal supply chain management. This rating is emerging as a critical key performance indicator (KPI) for businesses operating in the halal industry.

High performance in halal supply chain management boosts corporate reputation, reinforces halal trust, and enhances competitiveness in the rapidly expanding halal market.

The rating is derived through a combination of audits and benchmarking:

• On-site inspections assess facilities, procedures, and halal cargo handling capabilities.
• Benchmarking compares companies against industry best practices.
• These assessments are then analysed using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate an objective performance rating.

The halal supply chain rating is conducted across a wide range of stakeholders, including brand owners, retailers, suppliers, logistics service providers, warehouse operators, transport companies, seaports, airports, and halal industrial parks.

The halal supply chain rating evaluates seven key criteria:

1. Cleanliness: Evaluation of the cleanliness of operations and facilities.
2. Identification and Information: Assessment of halal area designation and transparency of halal cargo information.
3. Customer Service: Review of the responsiveness and knowledge of staff handling halal matters.
4. Halal Inspection: Assessment of the thoroughness and speed of halal inspection processes.
5. Range and Quality of Halal Services: Availability and quality of specialised halal services, including storage, transportation, packaging, ritual cleansing, and prayer facilities.
6. Access to Halal Supply Chain Network: Evaluation of connectivity to certified halal logistics networks.
7. Meeting Halal Standards: Verification of halal compliance procedures and endorsement by recognised certification bodies.

Conclusion

Globalisation has significantly increased the complexity of supply chains, making it more challenging—but also more essential—for brand owners to ensure halal integrity from source to point of consumer purchase. As consumer expectations rise and regulatory requirements become stricter, companies must adopt a proactive and structured approach to halal supply chain management.

The Halal Supply Chain Rating offers a much-needed KPI that enables businesses to benchmark their performance, demonstrate their commitment, and strengthen their positioning in the global halal economy. High performance in halal supply chains not only protects a company’s brand and reputation but also builds lasting consumer trust—an invaluable asset in the Muslim markets.

Moving forward, organisations must internalise the values of halal trust—excellence, transparency, authenticity, intention, and certification—and operationalise them throughout the supply chain. Doing so will not only meet the requirements of today’s halal consumer but will also drive sustainable growth and leadership in the halal industry of tomorrow.

About the Author

Dr. Marco Tieman is the CEO of HSC Alliance, an organisation committed to building international halal supply chain networks. Founded with the aim of creating synergy across halal food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and modest fashion industries, HSC Alliance serves as a collaborative platform for advancing halal supply chains worldwide.

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