What if I told you that you can make money just by targeting the mothers in your neighbourhood?

You see - right now there are two hot opportunities that are easy to implement and require very little capital...

You’ve got to love our rainbow nation. Living amongst so many cultures opens up a whole new world of opportunities for enterprising citizens. One that’s been attracting attention is the demand for halaal and kosher baby food.

The background on The Islamic religion has specific requirements for preparing and choosing food and this affects which foods Muslims – including the little ones – can or can’t eat. The absence of halaal baby foods on South African shelves means many Muslim babies suffer anaemia from iron deficiency. This is because their diet mainly consists of vegetable-based and egg-based products instead of the usual iron-rich, meat-based baby foods. For meats to be classified as halaal, the animals must be slaughtered and properly bled according to Islamic specifications. These requirements are recorded in the Islamic book of Law called the Shari’ah. Muslims have to also avoid a long list of additives and preservatives – see www.halal.org.za for more.

Devout Jews adhere to similar dietary laws. All plants are kosher but not all fish, animals and birds may be eaten. Kosher foods include goat, turkey, scale-fish, beef, mutton, duck and chicken. Forbidden foods include rabbit, pork, camel, octopus, eel, shellfish, horse, birds of prey and most insects. Kosher regulations also affect the slaughter and preparation of animals. These include restrictions such as keeping meat and dairy separate and using separate utensils for meat and dairy products.

Well, what all of this basically boils down to is that Muslims and Jews have created a unique market in terms of catering. And if you’re looking to occupy an unusual niche in the food industry, this could be a great option. While I’m mainly talking about baby foods here, you’re welcome to “think outside the bottle” and look into other related opportunities for speciality catering.

For example, you might consider Kosher or Halaal vending machines… Nevertheless, it’s important for babies to get the proper nutrition at the right age. But the main problem these communities have is the meat content in existing baby purees. The parents cannot be certain that non-Kosher ingredients have been included in the baby foods. So they can’t just grab any bottle they want off the shelves. And that’s where you come in.

You could get in touch with suppliers of halaal and kosher foods and puree some of the products you get from them, turning them into baby foods that are fit for Muslim and Jewish infants. Visit www.distributors.co.za or call M&L Distributors on (011) 474-9104 or (021) 552-5190. They distribute a variety of foods to independent retailers and large food chains. An added bonus is that they’ll help you with the branding of your products and your store.

Or, instead of producing the purees yourself, you could contact existing producers and arrange to distribute their foods instead. Have a look at Olli at www.olli.co.za to familiarise yourself with one company that’s supplying organic baby food for not only Muslim and Jewish customers, but for other health-conscious South African parents out there as well. Now you can buy Olli organic baby products in certain grocery shops and Baby City stores. Olli doesn’t sell directly to the public yet, but if you run a speciality health store they are worth contacting. Call their careline on 0860 105 102 or contact them via email on info@allganix.com. Because of the low supply and high demand, this is a fantastic time to get smart and grab this biz opp. The market for halaal and kosher baby foods is just waiting for you to set this golden ball rolling! Charge around R7 per 80ml serving and just think… An 8-month old baby eats about 250ml of food a day. That means you’ll make R100 a week from just one baby!