UK Muslims mark Ramadan this month and food will, as ever, be central to the celebrations. Yet supermarkets are set to miss out. Why?
Many British Muslims this week, have been busy preparing for the start of Ramadan. In less than two weeks, the biggest event in the Muslim calendar kicks off, and as always, food is set to play a major part.
For despite fasting through the day, typically more food is purchased, cooked, and eaten during Ramadan than at any other time, contributing towards the £200m that Ogilvy Islamic Marketing estimates British Muslims spend during the four-week period.
Not that supermarkets will see much of this money. As is typical, British Muslims prefer shopping in independent food shops during Ramadan.
Whilst Ramadan is the most important event in the Muslim calendar, supermarkets are yet to effectively acknowledge it. It is a solid month of feasting, parties and community by a population larger than Wales, and yet retailers still haven’t got their heads around it.
The problem for supermarkets is that while they often now run dedicated Ramadan aisles and adverts, many Muslims feel their offerings are overly simplistic. And crucially, that’s the case all year round, not just during Ramadan. 63% of British Muslims feel supermarkets deploy outdated activations in store, according to a survey by Mud Orange, while 69% feel British supermarkets don’t understand them and their families.