Halal chicken wholesale: what halal chicken is and how to buy it

Chicken is one of the most traded halal meats in Europe, because it is used in restaurants, takeaways, catering and retail alike. For a buyer, "halal chicken" describes a chain of conditions rather than a product feature:

• Species: chicken, like other domestic poultry, is a permitted species.
• Slaughter: the bird is slaughtered according to the rules of the applicable halal standard, including the cut, the invocation of God and full bleeding.
• Separation: cutting, packing, storage and transport rule out mixing with non-halal goods.
• Ingredients: for marinated or seasoned chicken, spices, flavourings and other ingredients must be halal too.
• Proof: a certificate from a certification body links the product to a certified plant.

You cannot see or taste whether chicken is halal. The status follows from the route of the goods from the farm to the carton, which is why it is proven by documents and not by the meat. The general meaning of the term is explained in our guide What does halal mean for meat?.

Halal chicken is also subject to exactly the same EU food law as any other poultry meat: hygiene, approved plants, official controls and labelling.

The question "is all chicken halal?" comes up often, because chicken is not forbidden like pork. The answer depends on three points that the species alone does not settle:

• Slaughter method: most conventional poultry lines in Europe are not set up for halal slaughter. Whether a line meets a halal standard depends on who performs or supervises the cut, whether God is invoked and which stunning method, if any, is used.
• Separation: in plants that process both halal and non-halal poultry, the halal batches must be kept apart, for example in separate shifts with cleaning in between.
• Further processing: breaded, marinated or seasoned chicken can lose its halal status through a single ingredient, such as a flavouring carrier or a casing.

The EU does not define "halal" and there is no official halal mark. A chicken is therefore not halal because it looks or tastes a certain way, and not because the label says "chicken". For resale, the safe basis is a valid certificate that covers the plant and the product.

If your customers ask whether all your chicken is halal, the honest answer is the documentation of each batch.

Poultry plants work at high line speeds, which is why poultry raises questions that hardly arise for cattle or lamb. We do not judge these questions religiously; buyers clarify them with their certification body or the imam their customers follow.

• Hand slaughter: each bird is cut by hand by a Muslim slaughterer with the invocation of God. Many standards require this, and some customers accept nothing else.
• Mechanical slaughter: a rotating blade cuts the birds on the line. Some standards accept this if a Muslim operator starts and supervises the line with the invocation; others reject it.
• Electrical water bath stunning: some certification bodies accept it if the parameters are set so that the bird remains alive at the cut and dead birds are removed; others do not accept any stunning.

EU law requires stunning in principle. Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 allows slaughter by religious rites without prior stunning in a slaughterhouse, and member states may set stricter rules.

For your enquiry, state whether you need hand slaughter, whether stunning is acceptable and which certification body your customers recognise. Background in our guide Halal slaughter explained.

Check the following points before you buy or resell halal poultry:

1. Halal certificate: name of the certification body, certified plant, product categories covered and validity. For export, check whether the importing country recognises the body.
2. Identification mark: the oval mark with the country code, the approval number of the plant and the EU abbreviation, as required by Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004. The approval number must match the plant named on the certificate.
3. Label: product name, weight, use-by date or best-before date, storage temperature, batch number and, for prepacked poultry, the origin indication.
4. Delivery documents: delivery note and, where applicable, a batch-related halal certificate that refers to the same batch number.

If the documents do not match, for example a certificate for a different plant or for whole birds only while you receive fillets, ask before you accept the goods.

Detailed advice is in our guide How to check halal certificates. With Carne Andalucía, the certificate, the plant and the origin of each lot are stated in the offer.

Buyers usually order by use, not by animal. Common formats in halal poultry wholesale are:

• Whole chicken: for grilling, rotisserie and further cutting, often sorted by weight class.
• Chicken breast fillet: with or without skin, as whole fillets or butterfly cut; the most requested cut for kitchens and doner production.
• Thighs and leg quarters: bone-in or boneless thigh meat, which stays juicy on the grill and the skewer.
• Drumsticks: for fast food, catering and buffets.
• Wings: whole or split into drumettes and flats; halal chicken wings wholesale is a format of its own for restaurants and takeaways.
• Inner fillets: the small fillet under the breast, often used for strips and nuggets.

Fresh chicken comes in crates, trays or vacuum packs; frozen chicken as IQF (individually frozen pieces) or in blocks in cartons. For each format, agree the calibre, the pack size, the trimming and whether the goods are fresh or frozen.

Our product range is described on the page Halal poultry. Quantities, origin and delivery times are stated in each offer.

Poultry is among the most perishable meats, so the cold chain matters as much as the halal certificate.

• Chilled: Annex III, Section II of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 requires poultry meat to be chilled to no more than 4 °C after slaughter and kept at that temperature.
• "Fresh" poultry: under the marketing standards in Regulation (EC) No 543/2008, poultry sold as fresh must never have been frozen and is kept between -2 °C and 4 °C.
• Frozen: frozen chicken is usually stored at -18 °C or colder. Frozen meat must carry the date of freezing under Annex III of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

Fresh chicken carries a use-by date because it is highly perishable. Frozen chicken keeps for months, depending on the product and packaging, and carries a best-before date.

For the buyer this means: check the temperature on receipt, store the goods immediately and plan orders of fresh chicken so that they are used well before the use-by date. Further advice in our guides Cold chain for halal meat and Storing halal meat.

The rules are set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1337/2013. For poultry, the label shows:

• "Reared in": the country where the bird spent its last rearing period of more than one month, or, if slaughtered younger, its whole fattening period.
• "Slaughtered in": the country of the slaughterhouse.
• Batch code: links the meat to the batch it comes from.
• "Origin": may replace both lines if the bird was hatched, reared and slaughtered in one country.

The origin indication is independent of the halal status. A label can be fully correct on origin and still say nothing about halal, and vice versa. Both pieces of information must fit the delivery documents.

Note: the company seat of Carne Andalucía is Málaga, which is where the name comes from. It does not describe the origin of the meat. The actual country of rearing and slaughter of each lot is stated in the offer and on the label.

Buyers who import poultry from outside the EU should also read our guide Importing meat into the EU.

Restaurants, doner shops and caterers rely on the same quality every week. Before choosing a supplier, clarify:

• Certificate: Which certification body, and does it match what your guests expect, for example hand slaughter or no stunning?
• Formats for the kitchen: breast fillet, boneless thigh, wings or whole birds, in consistent sizes so that portions and cooking times stay the same.
• Doner and kebab: chicken doner is usually made from breast and thigh meat. If you buy finished skewers or marinated meat, every ingredient of the marinade must be covered by the halal certificate.
• Fresh or frozen: fresh for daily use, frozen for planning and storage.
• Documents: label, batch number and certificate available for each delivery, so you can answer guests and inspectors.

Halal status is a promise to your guests. A display in the restaurant is only as good as the documents behind it.

Carne Andalucía supplies businesses only, no private customers. More for gastronomy in our guide Halal meat for restaurants, or send your requirements via enquiry.