British Muslims calls supermarkets to improve 'lazy' Ramadan and halal campaigns

Almost two thirds of British Muslims said they feel supermarkets have outdated and lazy campaigns when promoting Ramadan and halal produce following a recent survey.

Award-winning creative agency mud orange conducted the research by asking 1,002 people aged 18 – 45 on their views on food, drink, branding and shifting lifestyle choices are impacting their consumption habits.

Results revealed that many British Muslims said that supermarkets struggle to keep up with modern Muslim customers, with 69% feeling that supermarkets and grocery brands don’t understand them or their families.

Arif Miah, creative strategy director of mud orange, said: "There is a clear opportunity for supermarkets, delivery services and food and drink brands to engage with Muslim audiences.

“We have seen supermarkets such as Morrisons develop their Ramadan essentials food box in partnership with Deliveroo, but many are still missing the mark to build effective creative campaigns that engage and resonate with Muslims living in Britain today.

“Brands and supermarkets are trailing further behind as they continue to take an outdated marketing and branding approach towards modern Muslim audiences.”

The research also revealed that British Muslims want their blended identities to complement one another and they are keen to expand their food experiences beyond Arab and Indian cuisines.

With larger disposable incomes the UK Muslim population is around four million, leaving a relatively untapped consumer group in need of effective brand engagement.

Of those aged under 35, 75% said they regularly look for new cuisines and meals to try, whether eating out, ordering in, or cooking.

With £3.5 billion being spent on halal certified food across Britain each year, there is a huge innovation opportunity for supermarkets.

With Ramadan 2021 still over six months away, mud orange argues that supermarkets enough time to refresh their campaigns that will better engage with British Muslims.

“Unlike Easter and Christmas when brands are great at building a distinct role during the cultural moment, they’ve been lazy when it comes to Ramadan and Eid as they fail to understand the British Muslim appetite,” explained Mr Miah.

“With Ramadan this year being significantly different due to the pandemic and lockdown, it was not the usual big family celebration and many British Muslims will be looking at how they can make next year's celebrations even more special.”

To read mud orange’s full report, click here.