How to Find Halal Suppliers at Trade Shows: A Buyer's Sourcing Guide

Halal trade shows are the most efficient environment in the world for sourcing halal-certified suppliers. In a single day at MIHAS, a buyer can have face-to-face conversations with 30–50 verified suppliers from 40+ countries, taste product samples, inspect packaging, and receive certification documentation — all without a single cold email or factory visit. The challenge is not access to suppliers; it is filtering the 1,200 exhibitors at MIHAS down to the 15 who can actually supply what you need.

This guide is for importers, distributors, retailers, and procurement managers who are attending halal expos as buyers. It covers how to prepare before the event, how to qualify suppliers on the floor, and how to convert expo contacts into a reliable supply chain relationship.

For a complete overview of which halal expos to attend in 2026 — including dates, locations, exhibitor profiles, and what each event specialises in — read our complete 2026 halal expo guide.

Step 1: Choose the Right Events for Your Sourcing Needs

Not all halal expos attract the same supplier mix. Before booking travel, match the event's exhibitor profile to your sourcing requirements:

• MIHAS (Malaysia, September) — The largest halal trade show globally. Strongest for food and beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals from Southeast Asia. Malaysian government-backed, so Malaysian and Indonesian suppliers are heavily represented. Essential if you are sourcing for markets that accept JAKIM or MUI certification.
• Gulfood (Dubai, February) — Not exclusively halal, but the halal pavilion draws 8,500+ exhibitors and is the primary access point for Middle Eastern buyers and for suppliers targeting GCC markets. The most international mix of any food show in the world.
• World Halal Summit / Halal Expo Istanbul (Turkey, November) — The strongest event for Central Asian, European, and North African buyers. Turkish suppliers are excellent sources for processed food, red meat, and cosmetics with GIMDES certification that is widely recognised across the Islamic world.
• Saudi International Halal Expo (Riyadh, February/March) — Critical for suppliers seeking access to the Saudi market and for buyers sourcing SFDA-compliant products.
• Halal Expo Canada (Toronto, June) — Best for North American market buyers and for suppliers targeting the Canadian and US halal retail market.

Rule of thumb: attend the event in or closest to the market you are importing into. Buyers sourcing for Malaysian distribution should attend MIHAS. Buyers sourcing for Saudi distribution should attend the Saudi International Halal Expo or Gulfood. The exhibitor mix is dominated by suppliers who have already done the regulatory homework for that market.

Step 2: Pre-Show Research (Do This Before You Arrive)

Major halal expos publish their exhibitor list 4–8 weeks before the event. Download it and do the following:

1. Filter by your product category — Most expos provide category-filtered exhibitor directories. Start there rather than reviewing all 1,200 listings.
2. Cross-reference the HalalExpo.com directory — If an exhibitor has a verified company profile on our platform, you can check their product range, certifications, markets served, and company information before the show. It saves 20 minutes of floor conversation per supplier.
3. Identify 30–50 priority targets — From your filtered list, identify companies that match your product requirements, supply capacity, and certification needs. These are your must-visit booths. Plan your route around them.
4. Request meetings in advance — Email your top 15 priority suppliers before the show to schedule meetings at specific times. Suppliers who receive meeting requests in advance treat those buyers as serious purchasers. Walk-in traffic at a trade show booth gets a different level of attention than a pre-booked appointment.

Step 3: Verifying Halal Certification on the Floor

At a halal expo, every exhibitor claims to be halal certified. Not all of them are certifiable for your market. Here is how to verify quickly:

Ask for the physical certificate

Request the halal certificate for the specific products you are considering. A legitimate certified supplier will have the current certificate at their booth and will provide a copy without hesitation. Red flags: certificates that have expired, certificates from unknown bodies with no verifiable address or website, or certificates that cover a factory but not the specific product line you are discussing.

Check the certifying body

Verify that the certifying body is recognised by your import authority. For buyers sourcing for Malaysia, the certifier must be JAKIM-recognised. For Indonesia, BPJPH-recognised. For Saudi Arabia, SASO-recognised (which maps to a list of approved foreign certifiers). Our certifiers directory lists 104 bodies with their recognition status, tier, and which markets accept them.

Check the certificate scope

A halal certificate covers specific products from specific production lines at specific facilities. Confirm that the products you are discussing are explicitly listed on the certificate — not just the facility or the company. A certificate for a factory does not automatically cover every product that factory produces.

Ask about the audit cycle

Legitimate halal certification involves regular physical audits — typically annually or biannually. Ask when the last audit was and when the next one is due. If the supplier is vague or cannot name the audit schedule, that is worth probing further.

Step 4: The Right Questions to Ask at the Booth

Once you have confirmed basic certification credibility, move to commercial qualification. These questions separate genuine suppliers from distributors, agents, or manufacturers without the capacity to serve your requirements:

• "What is your minimum order quantity for this product?"
• "What is your lead time from order confirmation to ex-factory?"
• "Do you have existing export experience to [target market]? Who are your current buyers there?"
• "Can you supply consistent volume if we start with a trial order and then scale?"
• "Do you have your own production facility, or are you a trading company?"
• "What is your approach to contamination prevention if you also produce non-halal products at the same facility?"

The last question is particularly important. Shared facility production is common and is not inherently a problem — many large manufacturers produce halal and non-halal lines — but the controls around segregation, cleaning procedures, and shared equipment need to be understood before you commit to a supplier relationship.

Step 5: Converting Expo Contacts Into Supply Chain Partners

The sourcing process does not end when you leave the expo floor. The companies that get the most value from halal trade shows treat the event as a qualification event, not a procurement event. Procurement happens in the 30–90 days after.

Request samples immediately

For every supplier who passes initial qualification, request a sample within 48 hours of meeting them. Establish the product specification you need to meet, the packaging requirements, and the delivery address. Suppliers who respond to sample requests within a week are demonstrating the responsiveness you will need throughout the supply relationship.

Request a certificate audit

Ask the supplier to email the original certificate (not a booth copy) within one week. Cross-check it against the certifying body's own published registry if available. JAKIM, MUI, MUIS, and SFDA all maintain online databases of certified companies and products.

Start with a trial order

Never commit to a long-term volume agreement with a new supplier based on a trade show meeting alone. Structure a trial order at modest volume — enough to test delivery reliability, product consistency, and documentation accuracy. A supplier who resists trial orders is a supplier who does not want accountability.

Which Events to Prioritise in 2026

If you can only attend one halal expo as a buyer in 2026, attend the event most closely matched to your target market. If you are building a broader sourcing programme across multiple markets, attend MIHAS in September for Southeast Asian supply and Gulfood in February for global exposure in one efficient trip.

Our 2026 halal expo guide provides complete details on registration, hosted buyer programmes, booth costs, and what to expect at each major event.

If you are beginning supplier research before the next expo season, our halal business directory lists 5,000+ verified companies with their certification details, product ranges, and contact information — a useful starting point for building your shortlist before you book flights.