How Rising Meat Prices Are Transforming the Global Halal Food Industry

On a recent Friday night in East London, the dining room at a popular halal steakhouse was full, but the grill was strangely quiet. The sirloins and tomahawks that once defined the place had almost vanished from the menu. In their place: smaller “sharing steaks,” more burgers, and an expanded list of chicken dishes.

“It’s simple,” the owner might tell you. “If I charged what the steak really costs now, nobody would come back.”

He’s not alone. Around the world, surging meat prices are forcing halal restaurants, butchers, and food companies to rethink everything from portion sizes to supply chains — and, in some cases, the very idea of what a “halal meal” looks like.

This is not just a story about one ingredient getting more expensive. It’s a stress test for a US$1+ trillion halal meat and food market that feeds hundreds of millions of Muslims — and an increasing number of non-Muslims — every day.

Related:  Halal Food Market Growth and Size Forecast to 2035

A global meat shock meets a booming halal market

Worldwide, meat prices have been on an upward march again.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that global meat prices hit a record high in mid-2025, driven largely by beef and lamb, even as prices for some other foods eased.

In the United States, ground beef hit record levels in 2025; one recent estimate put average retail prices up nearly 14% year-on-year, far outpacing overall inflation. In Britain, steakhouses are preparing to charge £30 and more for a single steak as wholesale beef costs soar.

The reasons are familiar to economists and ranchers:

• Smaller cattle herds after years of drought and high feed costs

• Farmers selling off animals instead of rebuilding herds because of high interest rates and debt

• Strong demand for protein in large markets such as the U.S., China and the Gulf states

FAO and OECD-FAO projections suggest meat prices will remain structurally higher and more volatile this decade than they were in the 2010s, even if some year-to-year relief appears in the indices.

For the halal industry, this surge collides with strong underlying growth. Analysts estimate the global halal meat market alone at about US$1.05 trillion in 2025, with expectations it will grow to roughly US$1.5 trillion by 2030. That growth is powered by a young, expanding Muslim population, rising incomes in many OIC countries, and non-Muslim consumers who see halal as a proxy for cleanliness and animal welfare.

In other words: demand is growing at the very moment supply has become more expensive and uncertain.

On the front lines: halal restaurants and steakhouses

Nowhere is the pressure more visible than in restaurants.

Mainstream chains such as Burger King, Chipotle, Shake Shack and large casual-dining groups have all warned investors that record beef prices are squeezing margins, forcing them to raise prices, rework menus, or find efficiencies elsewhere. High-end steakhouses in the US and UK are cutting portion sizes, trimming staff hours and edging menu prices up, step by careful step.

Halal operators face all of that — with extra layers of complexity.

Certification and segregation costs.
Halal beef must be sourced from certified suppliers, slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, and kept separate from non-halal meat at every stage. That already adds cost in normal times. When base beef prices soar, the premium can become punishing, especially for small, independent restaurants that lack the purchasing power of large chains.

Imported dependence.
In Gulf states, Southeast Asia and parts of Europe, much halal beef is imported from major meat exporters such as Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. When international beef prices rise and local currencies weaken — as they have recently in countries like Egypt and Pakistan — halal restaurants are hit twice: by global commodity inflation and by exchange-rate pain.

Menu engineering under religious constraints.
A non-halal bistro can quietly pivot from beef to pork when prices spike. A halal restaurant cannot. Pork is off the table, literally. The typical response has been:

• Pushing more chicken-based dishes, where prices have been relatively more stable

• Offering smaller steak cuts, shared plates, or “beef-accent” dishes (beef strips on rice rather than a full steak)

• Introducing more lamb and mutton where culturally acceptable, though lamb prices have also climbed globally

One recent food-industry analysis described American restaurants “rethinking menus” in the face of record beef prices — introducing more beef-and-mushroom blends for burgers, shifting to cheaper cuts like chuck and brisket, and promoting chicken and plant-based options. The same playbook is now visible across many urban halal districts, from Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta to Birmingham and Brooklyn.

In practice, that might mean a Ramadan iftar buffet where the beef biryani tray is smaller, refilled less often, and surrounded by more lentils, rice and grilled chicken.

Halal butchers and the cost-of-living squeeze

Beyond restaurants, the effects are rippling through the neighborhood butcher — still the cornerstone of halal meat supply in many communities.

Research from Britain’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board shows that Muslim shoppers, like everyone else, have been reshaping their baskets under the cost-of-living crisis: buying fewer premium lamb cuts, trading down to cheaper options, and relying heavily on trusted local halal butchers for price and quality signals.

But those butchers are being squeezed. They’re paying more for carcasses at the wholesale level and facing customers whose incomes haven’t kept up.

Community complaints have surfaced in local forums across the UK about lamb and beef prices at halal shops, with some shoppers accusing butchers of “hiding” prices or changing them from one customer to another — a sign of both mistrust and the day-to-day volatility in costs.

For many small halal butchers, the options are limited:

• Absorb some of the cost and accept lower margins

• Raise prices and risk losing loyal customers

• Reduce variety — fewer offal items, fewer premium cuts — to simplify ordering and avoid waste

In lower-income Muslim neighborhoods, where meat already takes a large share of the household food budget, even small price movements can change behavior: more chicken, fewer family barbecues, less frequent purchases of beef and lamb, and a greater reliance on frozen or processed meat products.

Import-dependent countries feel the strain

The halal food industry is not confined to majority-Muslim states, but some of the most acute pressures are showing up there.

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa import large volumes of meat and livestock. When global meat prices jump — as FAO’s indices show they did in 2024–2025 — that quickly feeds into domestic inflation.

In parts of the Gulf, governments can cushion the blow with subsidies or strategic stockpiles. Elsewhere, options are narrower. In Egypt, Jordan or Pakistan, higher import bills compete with other urgent needs for foreign currency, making it harder to maintain generous meat subsidies or price controls.

Meanwhile, rising global demand for beef and sheep meat in China and the U.S. has tightened supplies from key exporters, contributing to higher price offers for import-dependent halal markets.

For large halal processors and traders, this environment encourages more long-term contracts, joint ventures with suppliers in Australia and South America, and investments in logistics to secure reliable, traceable supplies. For smaller players, it means living with uncertainty.

Innovation, substitution and the rise of “halal-plus”

Yet the story is not purely about pain. Rising meat prices are also accelerating change inside the halal food ecosystem.

1. Poultry ascendant
While beef and lamb prices have surged, poultry prices have been relatively more subdued or even declined in some months, thanks to abundant export supplies from countries like Brazil. That has reinforced an existing trend: the growing dominance of halal chicken in quick-service chains, school canteens, airline catering and mass-market retail.

For many middle-class Muslim families, a meat-heavy weekly menu increasingly means chicken three or four nights a week, with beef and lamb reserved for weekends or special occasions.

2. Processed and frozen halal meats
Analysts note that the halal food market is growing not only in fresh cuts but in processed categories: sausages, nuggets, kebabs, canned meats and frozen ready-meals.

These products allow manufacturers to stretch expensive beef and lamb with spices, grains and vegetables; they also travel better and can be produced at larger scale, partially offsetting the impact of raw-material inflation. For a family in Jakarta or Lagos, a box of halal beef sausages may now deliver better value than a kilo of fresh steak.

3. Tech-driven efficiency and trust
Facing cost pressure, larger halal companies are investing in technology: blockchain systems that verify halal certification and animal origin, AI tools that streamline certification paperwork, and IoT sensors that monitor cold-chain integrity.

While these systems can’t make cattle feed cheaper or bring rain to drought-stricken ranches, they can reduce waste, prevent fraud and allow companies to charge a premium for verified quality — effectively creating a “halal-plus” tier that emphasizes ethics, traceability and safety as well as religious compliance.

4. Plant-based and hybrid “halal” proteins
The halal-certified plant-based sector is still small, but it is growing. Some producers are marketing halal-certified meat alternatives made from soy, peas or mushrooms, targeting flexitarian Muslims and non-Muslim consumers who want to cut back on red meat without abandoning familiar flavor profiles.

At the restaurant level, hybrids are appearing: burgers that blend halal beef with mushrooms or grains; rice bowls that pair a few slices of beef with generous vegetables; menus where a “signature steak” sits alongside several vegetarian mains.

The message is subtle but clear: meat is still on the table — just not quite as much of it.

Inequality at the dinner table

Rising meat prices do not affect everyone equally.

For high-income halal consumers in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur or London, the changes may look like minor annoyances: a more expensive steak night, a slightly smaller portion at a favorite restaurant, a higher bill for Eid al-Adha barbecue.

For low-income Muslims in Cairo, Karachi or rural Indonesia, the story is more severe. When beef and lamb prices climb faster than wages, meat can recede from the everyday diet and become an occasional luxury. Proteins are replaced with cheaper carbohydrates, and nutritional gaps can widen.

Global institutions have warned that higher meat and edible-oil prices are contributing to food-access concerns in poorer countries, even as headline food price indices retreat from the peaks seen in 2022. In many Muslim-majority states, that concern is layered on top of a religious and cultural expectation that meat — particularly red meat — plays a central role in celebrations, hospitality and hospitality.

That tension is especially visible during religious holidays. If a kilo of halal beef or lamb costs significantly more than it did a year ago, the question becomes not just what’s for dinner? but who gets invited?

The road ahead: resilience in a more expensive world

Most analysts do not expect beef to become cheap again anytime soon. Rebuilding cattle herds takes years, not months, and climate volatility — from droughts to floods — is likely to keep agricultural markets on edge.

For the global halal food industry, that reality is forcing a shift from growth at almost any cost to resilient growth:

• More diversified protein baskets, with poultry, eggs, legumes and responsibly produced fish taking on greater roles alongside beef and lamb

• Smarter supply chains, where importers and large processors use long-term contracts, technology and certification partnerships to secure stable, transparent supplies

• Policy choices, as governments decide how much to subsidize meat, how to support local livestock sectors, and how to balance food security with environmental goals

• New narratives around halal, emphasizing not only lawful slaughter but also stewardship of animals, fair treatment of farmers, and responsible consumption

For diners at that East London halal steakhouse — and at countless kebab shops, biryani stalls and family tables from Casablanca to Kuala Lumpur — the transition will be felt in small ways: a different cut on the plate, a little more chicken, a little less beef, perhaps a few more lentils on the side.

The deeper question is whether the halal food system can turn this period of high prices into a catalyst for reform: a push toward supply chains that are not just halal, but more transparent, more sustainable and more resilient in a world where meat, for many, is becoming a rarer treat.

If it can, the current shock may be remembered not only as the moment when steaks suddenly became expensive — but when the halal food industry quietly reinvented the way it feeds the world.