In the last year, Muslim consumer spending on food and lifestyle merchandise was reported to gross $1.8 trillion world-wide with a projected growth of $2.6 trillion in the next four years. This is music to the ears of Muslim entrepreneurs — including a large percentage of women.
“According to our research, women represent 50% of the [Muslim] start-up business community and this figure is set to grow further over the next few years,” says Tahir Mirza, co-founder of the Muslim Lifestyle Expo which was held last weekend in Manchester, England. 60% of the exhibitors were female entrepreneurs who pitched everything from prayer mats and Islamic toys, to clothes, accessories and cosmetics.
Mocktail Company, a producer of non-alcoholic drinks, participated at the Expo. “I’d always known growing up in Britain that the culture of being British and being Muslim sometimes conflicted, particularly at University when a lot of my friends were drinking,” says founder Shahin Hussain. “And as I grew older I saw no-one had filled the gap in the market for non-alcoholic drinks aimed at Muslims.”
Shahin Hussain is also a mother of two young children and says her business is “like a third child as I have to put so much energy into it. Often I have to follow up emails and orders late at night after they’ve gone to sleep – and I’m never getting enough sleep.”
In just three months since launch, Mocktail Company have already sold 19,000 bottles of its non-alcoholic Mojito.
