Yorkshire frozen food business has bumper year as it taps into Halal food trend

Jahan Foods launched in 2020 and has seen turnover double every year with its range of products now listed in all British supermarkets

29th July 2022: Leeds-based Jahan Foods is a Yorkshire business success story with its range of frozen Halal convenience food products. It launched two years ago and has quickly grown to become the UK’s largest supplier of premium quality frozen Halal food with its products in all major supermarkets and most independent retailers.

The business is celebrating phenomenal success by doubling its turnover each financial year and is on track for its biggest and most successful year yet in 2022/2023 and is on target to achieve well over eight figures.

Jahan Foods was founded in 2020 by Kaleem Ahmed who with over twenty years’ food manufacturing and retail experience, spotted a gap in the market for quality, affordable convenient frozen halal food which appealed to third and fourth generation Halal consumers.

The business launched with a range of Halal frozen coated chicken products under the Dima brand which were quickly listed in a range of discount retailers. 

This initial success gave the business confidence and it developed the ‘Jahan’ brand which quickly grew to around 40 products. This included coated and marinated chicken, pizzas, kebabs, samosas and ready meals and is sold in all the major supermarkets, discount retailers and thousands of independent shops across the UK.

Growth has also come in the shape of an acquisition made in 2022 when a decision was made to purchase the assets of frozen halal product ranges from Vibrant Foods. This acquisition resulted in adding £3.5m turnover and new customers.

Kaleem Ahmed, Founder and MD of Jahan Foods said: “Before we launched Jahan Foods, the world food frozen aisle in supermarkets was extremely dull and lacked innovation. It played safe with traditional foods such as parathas and samosas.  I knew we could do better and offer modern Muslim consumers a more innovative range of products. 

“Working with our manufacturing partners, we created a range of everyday frozen family meals which were Halal and offered both convenience and quality. We have been overwhelmed with how shoppers have bought into our ranges and especially the ‘Jahan’ brand. Due to this success some of our retailers have further supported us with substantial space within the cabinets and increased listings.”

The business has also opened new offices in Leeds and works with a range of BRC and SALSA accredited manufacturers in the UK and Europe. 

Nick Bowyer, finance director at Jahan Foods added: “We are proud to have our products in every major supermarket and we are on target to achieve well over eight figures for 2023. This is testament to the hard work of our team and our relationships with retailers who trust us to deliver. There is an even bigger opportunity for Halal frozen food to cross over into core category and hopefully we will look to share some incredible news soon.”

There are over 4 million Muslims in the UK who are demanding convenient, quality and competitively priced ranges. The global Halal food market is forecast to expand by a CAGR 9.7% in the next 10 years as demand grows and is currently worth US $1.2 tn in sales in 2022 (Future Market Insights Report 2022).