SIX years ago, Mr Raphael Meyer would have considered himself lucky if his company, which certifies food as kosher, got two calls a year from potential customers.

These days, however, the phone has been ringing off the hook at his firm, UniGlobe, as more food exporters try to get their products certified according to Jewish canon.

They are trying to make inroads into a global kosher market worth US$600 billion (S$815 billion) annually. According to some estimates, the sector has grown by 15 per cent a year.

Mr Meyer, who is based here as UniGlobe's Asia-Pacific marketing director, estimates that he now gets at least three to four applications a week for products running the gamut from confectionery and sauces to tea and flavourings.

But many have to be rejected because they tend to include un-kosher ingredients. Meat or extracts of shellfish, reptiles, insects, pigs and some fish are not considered kosher. Products which mix meat and milk are also taboo.

Mr Meyer, who gave a talk yesterday on kosher certification at the hospitality trade show Food and Hotel Asia, said: 'Not getting certified is one of the major hindrances for companies which want to penetrate into foreign markets, because a lot of people these days want kosher food.'

And these consumers are not just Jews. Of the 25 million kosher-food consumers worldwide, less than 45 per cent are actually Jewish, according to a 2005 report by consumer intelligence analyst Mintel.

In recent years, Muslims, Buddhists, Seventh-day Adventists, vegetarians and vegans have started eating kosher food, as have those who suffer from allergies or are lactose-intolerant.

twong@sph.com.sg

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