Theme 9: Halal Commitment

Halal is the food permitted under Islamic law and the compliance with animal slaughtering practice. With the Halal Certification awarded by JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia), it affirms Firm B’s commitment to adhere with the standards of preparation of all food in the restaurant in accordance to the regulatory guidelines. In the interview with its CFO, she recalled how the halal policy was introduced:

When we joined [foodservice industry] in 1998, the Halal certification was a kind of privatization, anybody could buy the certificate. Since some people use inconsistent halal logo, misuse the logo; when JAKIM found out, they were very strict in giving halal certificate. They have surveillance team. The policy of halal only came in about last 3 years ago. For the last three years, halal has been certifying by government, JAKIM, and Halal Development Council. We also get 5-star food safety rating and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certified. When our government declared Malaysia as Halal Hub, we’ve to gear up our effort to offer halal food.

With adherence to halal practice and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), Firm B is very particular in food safety and government recognition. Although government encourages Malaysian foodservice firms to offer halal food, it is not a compulsion. She clarified on this issue:

We have more Muslim population in Malaysia. Government did not impose or force the company to be certified halal. It’s up to the company whether to have halal or not. In halal, it’s not simply no pork, but it’s about cleanliness, standard of hygiene, and the Islamic slaughtering of chicken. We don’t want to go to the restaurants which are dirty.

Halal practice was not just to fulfill the need of Muslim market, it also could ensure high standard of food preparation for Firm B. She examined more detail on the halal criteria:

In the production lines itself, even though we’ve HACCP certified, we still need halal certified; therefore we just pay additional RM 200 for the halal certification.

In fact, some restaurants sell alcohol but still can get halal certification because the food production is in halal manner. In the case of hotels, they may not have halal logo for their hotel because they sell alcohol, but their kitchen can be halal certified…Well, of course, when the halal food is sensationalized, people are fanatic, they’re scared the products without halal certified are not safe, that’s why we’re very particular in offering halal products.

Firm B obtained both halal and HACCP certification in order to convince customers to dine in its outlets. Firm B had always maintained its halal concept because there were many Muslim communities in foreign markets and also many Muslim travelers everywhere (Business Times, 2007, August 27).

By having halal certified, Firm B has more credential in appearing in Muslim countries.

However, in the interview with its CFO, she was optimistic with Malaysia as a brand to convince the Muslims in international market to patronize Firm B’s outlets:

We don’t have to convince them because they themselves trust us. Muslim countries

This is because Malaysia chairs OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference). Since Malaysia has declared as Halal Hub, our government requested other Muslim countries to set their halal legislation [for trading in Malaysia] – rules and policies for this purpose. It’s not only to build confidence, but also to practice halal principles.

Muslims all over the world are confident with Malaysian halal legislation since Malaysian is known as Islamic country. They are not skeptical in selecting Malaysian outlets because Malaysians have knowledge of halal which is part of their lifestyle. Halal Hub policy will encourage more halal products trading among international food producers. Firm B is taking this advantage to look for foreign partners to set up its subsidiaries overseas.

Since Malaysia is an Islamic country, food-related businesses require halal as the market advantage. To convince local customers, Firm B filled 90% of the job positions in food preparation for its Malaysian outlets with local Muslims. By doing so, the Muslim customers will not hesitate to patronize its outlets (Amie & Eng, 2010, Jan 13).

Halal is one of the important elements in expanding overseas. No matter the countries expanded are Muslim or not, Firm B consistently offers halal food even the beverage is not halal. The interview with its CFO revealed this truth:

Alcoholic beverages are not halal. In Australia, wines are offered, but the foods are halal. In China, beers and wines are offered, but the food is still halal. Same goes to other countries.

Stringent halal preparation procedure is necessary when it deals with food. In terms of beverage, alcohol still can be offered to non-Muslim countries such as China and Australia. She further uncovered the halal criteria that the firm had fulfilled in foreign countries:

In Singapore, it’s (the halal certification is) from Malaysia. In Australia, it associates closely with Malaysian halal; the process of slaughtering chicken, beef, and lamb must be certified halal. In Thailand and China, halal certification is not critical as it’s unnecessary.

Being halal has given additional advantage for Firm B to expand international market as Malaysia government will provide support in terms of overseas trade missions. Even though government did not state that only halal certified firms would be selected to join the government business trips overseas, its CFO, was confident that it was useful when the firms needed government support to go overseas:

I have no idea about whether the companies that follow MITI’s (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) business trips are halal certified or not, but I think most of them are halal. MITI usually bring the halal certified company in their business trips.

Halal commitment has contributed to the acceleration of Firm B’s international venture.