Sisters Sarah and Maryam Mounajed saw a gap in the market for Muslim mothers wanting to feed their children quality Halal baby food.
Halal has been a hotly debated topic in Australia’s national discourse but with 604,000 Muslims living across the nation, it’s clear that demand for nutritious Halal baby food is soaring.
“When it came time for us to feed our kids, we were very concerned about what was on the market,” says Sarah.
“We couldn’t find anything that we really loved or were comfortable with.”
Once they started making food for their own children the sisters saw that there was a market demand for healthy Halal baby food products for Muslim children.
It’s now a booming business that is continually expanding with international distribution interest from countries like Dubai, Bangladesh, The United States and Germany.
Maryam holding Sarah's pregnant belly. The sisters had children six weeks apart which eventually lead to inspiring Halal Bubs. Source: Supplied
The sisters hope to look back on the business as a legacy of their hard work.
“We want our children to see you can have a working mother and aspire to be something,” says Sarah with pride.
“We want our children to see you can have a working mother and aspire to be something.”
“I think it’s a really great example to women even in our own community, that you can become something, doesn’t matter if you have kids the opportunity is there. You just need to chase it.”
“I think it’s a really great example to women even in our own community, that you can become something, doesn’t matter if you have kids the opportunity is there. You just need to chase it.”
Maryam’s background as a chef working in top restaurants, such as Matt Moran’s Aria at the Sydney Opera House, has allowed the business to work efficiently to fulfill orders and gain a reputation for high-quality recipes.
"So all my experience I guess has molded me to the chef I am today and my style of cooking,” says Maryam.
Maryam is formally trained as a chef and has worked at top restaurants like ARIA. Source: SBS
“I was the only Muslim girl in the kitchen when I worked at ARIA.
“I’d get really hot and my scarf would be wrapped around my neck– and everyone’s like ‘I don’t know how you do that.’ And I’m like ‘oh it’s ok’.
“But I guess a lot of people didn’t know much about Islam, you know what we could eat and what we couldn’t eat.”
“But I guess a lot of people didn’t know much about Islam, you know what we could eat and what we couldn’t eat.”
“Me being there was a good learning experience for them.”
Maryam explains the kitchen staff was extremely understanding of her religion.
“They wouldn’t put me on a pork dish, or if they knew there was something with alcohol they’d be like okay do you want to go onto desserts today?”
This ability to go between food cultures has also been reflected in the company’s clientele.
One of Halal Bubs customers feeding her son the baby food. Source: SBS
The food is not only Halal but purposely built to be healthy and nutritious, meaning non-muslims are also taking orders.
“You would think that our market would only be for Muslims,” says Sarah.
“Our market is driven by Muslims, however, we have a large clientele who aren’t Muslims who order from us,” says Sarah.
