Vietnam has announced a strategy to capture market share in the global Halal sector, focusing on rice, coffee, cashews, seafood and processed foods. For Italian agri-food companies, a competitive window is opening: understanding Vietnam's challenges also reveals where Italy can differentiate itself. Here is what this news means in practical terms for businesses that export or intend to export to Islamic markets.
Vietnam has declared its intention to strengthen its presence in the global Halal food market, focusing on key products such as rice, coffee, cashews, seafood and processed foods. This is reported by HalalFocus (28 October 2026), which also highlights the three main obstacles holding Vietnamese companies back: obtaining Halal certifications recognised in target markets, sourcing compliant ingredients, and navigating the complexity of international standards that vary from country to country.
For an Italian agri-food company, this news is not merely about an Asian competitor. It concerns the competitive landscape of the entire Halal market and, above all, it pinpoints precisely where an Italian company can build a defensible advantage.
Vietnam does not compete directly with the typical products of Italian agri-food exports — pasta, olive oil, tomato preserves, cheeses, confectionery — but it competes for the same destination markets: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Turkey. When a country with significant productive capacity such as Vietnam accelerates on the Halal front, it reduces the available space for those who arrive unprepared or without a recognised certification.
The critical point identified in the article is exactly what slows down many Italian companies as well: the fragmentation of international standards. Each importing country has its own requirements for recognising certification bodies. A Halal certificate valid in Malaysia may not be accepted in Saudi Arabia, and vice versa. This creates a barrier to entry that has nothing to do with product quality, but everything to do with the choice of certification body.
According to HalalFocus, Vietnamese companies struggle precisely to obtain certifications that are valid in their target markets. This is the central issue: it is not enough to hold a Halal certificate — the certificate must be issued by a body recognised in the country where the product is to be sold.
For an Italian company, the situation is analogous. The main Islamic markets maintain closed lists of accredited certification bodies:
A company that selects a certification body not appearing on these lists finds itself in the same position described for Vietnamese companies — and in the same position in which New Zealand companies found themselves with the UAE, when their reference body lost UAE recognition and exports ground to a halt.
The Vietnamese news offers a useful mirror. The challenges Vietnam must overcome are the same ones an Italian company must resolve before entering an Islamic market. The concrete steps are as follows:
There is one element that structurally distinguishes Italian-made products from Asian or South American competition: the perception of quality, food safety, and traceability. Consumers in Islamic markets — increasingly sophisticated and well-informed — associate Italian products with high standards. Yet this perception alone is not sufficient: it must be backed by a recognised Halal certification, which transforms reputation into a verifiable commercial requirement.
The Halal certification process for an Italian agri-food company begins with documentary analysis of ingredients and production procedures, includes an audit of the facility, and concludes with the issuance of a certificate valid in the countries recognised by the certification body. Timescales and costs vary according to the complexity of the product and the number of target markets.
HQC Italia is accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 and is recognised in more than 50 Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia (SASO and SFDA), the United Arab Emirates and Gulf countries (GAC and EIAC), Indonesia (BPJPH), Malaysia (JAKIM), Singapore (MUIS), and Thailand (CICOT). A quote for initiating the certification process is free of charge and is provided within 24 hours of the request.
Source: HalalFocus, «Viet Nam seeks stronger foothold in global Halal food market», 28 October 2026.
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