US halal market offers increasing opportunities

American lamb and sheep meat producers are focusing on the growing US halal market to grow their business.

According to reports in the US media, the American Lamb Board is hoping it can entice the 5.7 million Muslims living in America and their $98 billion spending power.

Megan Wortman, the executive director of the American Lamb Board, said the board’s members had planned large media campaigns for "pasture-to-plate lamb" in Muslim hotspots, such as Detroit, Chicago and New York.

Lamb is not popular in the US, and the average American eats just 225g lamb a year. This compares with 22kg of beef and almost 41kg of chicken per person per year.