Honest Chops - Manhattan butcher shop making halal all-American
HONEST CHOPS |
|
| Founders |
Bassam Tariq (a TED Fellow and the director of the film ‘These Birds Walk’), Russell Khan (IT consultant) and Khalid Latif (Executive Director of the Islamic Center at New York University, and a chaplain at NYU and for the New York Police Department) |
| Year founded | 2014 |
| Headquarters |
New York, USA |
| Position in the industry | Honest Chops is the only halal butcher shop in Manhattan and the only halal meat delivery service in New York |
| Sales in 2015 |
$600,000 so far this year, with profits at $160,000 gross |
MISSION STATEMENT
Honest Chops’ mission is to create a transparent and radically simple meat store accessible to all New Yorkers, and to help people incorporate halal into their way of life.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Founded in 2014 by three friends, Honest Chops is becoming known not just for being halal, but for being organic and for touting the ethical treatment of animals and employees. The company works closely with its farms to ensure that all the animals are raised and treated compassionately and that its butchers practise a whole-animal slaughter in line with halal standards. All meat is also organic, which is drawing a huge amount of non-Muslim customers. Early reports said that non-Muslims made up 80 percent of customer base, but Latif says the number has evened out.
The shop originated as a potential revenue stream to fund domestic shelters, soup kitchens and other social services for Muslims in New York. While the profits are not quite there yet, Honest Chops does donate to soup kitchens and provides an avenue for charity via its customers, especially at major holidays. (For Thanksgiving, customers can receive a discount for donating a turkey.)
Latif says he wants people to see halal as lifestyle and interject it into the ethics of how animals and people are treated. Honest Chops butcher and use the entire animal (while staying within U.S. government regulations) and want to educate people on reducing waste.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
The company is currently working on opening a second location that will serve as a halal burger bar, offering halal options. Honest Chops also seeks to facilitate charity; for Eid al-Fitr, customers donated 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of meat to families in need.
MARKET STRATEGY
Honest Chops is aiming to open three to five locations in the New York City area—including burger bars—and eventually wants to open a farm-butcher-table concept restaurant. Currently, they serve 700 to 800 customers a month (in store) and 20 to 40 delivery orders a week. The goal is to grow organically while maintaining quality and halal standards.
CHALLENGES FACED
- Growth. Growing too large too quickly can create problems with standards. It’s important for customers that the brand stay focused on its core ideals.
- Supply chain. As Honest Chops grows and uses more farmers, the opportunity for issues within the supply chain increases. As we’ve seen with larger agricultural companies, quality suffers if there is no oversight.
- Competition. Halal butcher shops are typically mom-and-pop operations. Expansion into locations with an existing halal shop may not work in their favor.
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Amina Akhtar