Yahoo Finance Does the Popeyes takeover mean it will stop serving halal chicken?
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen will have a new corporate overlord once a US$1.8 billion takeover by Restaurant Brands International closes sometime in April. And depending on how they decide to tinker with Popeyes Canadian chicken franchises, they may end up losing some customers.
That’s not a slight to Popeye’s main product, which is a southern fried chicken available in mild and spicy, and which has more than a few devoted fans.
But the chain over the years has built a substantial following in the Canadian Muslim community as a source of halal meat. Once the suits at Restaurant Brands begin to implement their vision for the company, it’s not clear if that will continue.
In its statement announcing the takeover, Restaurant Brands doesn’t mention the issue specifically, though it said Popeyes would continue to be managed independently in the United States, where the chain does not serve halal chicken.
Interestingly, the deal will bring Popeyes under Canadian ownership and into the same corporate group as Tim Hortons and Burger King, as Oakville-based Restaurant Brands was formed by the merger of the two companies in 2014.
“The only information we have about the sale and the way the business may move forward is the release that (Restaurant Brands) issued,” says Renee Kopkowski, Vice President of Brand Communications at Atlanta-based Popeyes. “I don’t have anything I can add to that.”
Restaurant Brands did not respond to questions from Yahoo. A Toronto franchisee contacted by Yahoo also said he doesn’t know exactly what the future holds for the chicken.
If you bring up the topic of Popeyes and halal, you will doubtless come across the argument that the chicken chain’s version of halal doesn’t pass muster. It’s an issue that’s been under debate since the company switched chicken suppliers for several franchises in 2011, forcing them to accept machine-killed chicken, rather than hand-slaughtered birds, which many require for a halal designation.
Listen man. Popeyes better stay halal or else we're fighting. I am not joking this will be an actual fight. https://t.co/JABX5rFM89
— radiyah c. (@radiyahch) February 21, 2017
Popeyes is the only place I can get halal fried chicken (some locations only) and now BK is taking over ?? ????????????????
— tara (@okaibae) February 21, 2017
thank god i live in canada bc all popeyes restaurants r halal
— نادرة (@BIEBERINDEED) January 28, 2017
However, many Muslims still consider Popeyes chicken to be halal, says Shaykh Yusuf Badat, Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto.
“It’s a yes and a no,” he says. “According to some standards, it is considered halal, according to other standards, it would not be considered halal.”
A strict interpretation of halal would require conditions including manual slaughter and a recital of prayer by a believer. But many modern scholars are more flexible in their interpretation, he says.
“In some situations, there is this understanding that if you bless a few animals in mass slaughter, then it suffices for the entire production of that batch or that group.”
Yahoo contacted a dozen franchises located in the GTA, London, and Calgary, and all said they serve halal chicken. The website zabinah.com, tracks halal restaurants in several countries, certifies Popeyes in Canada as halal.
Of course, Toronto-area Muslims have plenty of options in terms of restaurants with halal offerings, both in neighbourhood restaurants and chains including South St. Burger, Hero Certified Burgers, and even select Pizza Pizzas.
But you could say Popeyes has a bit of a first-mover presence, having served halal meat at its Canadian locations since the 1980s.
“There might be a small segment of the community that might feel saddened that we do not have this option anymore,” says Badat.
