French confident of Malaysia’s halal hub aspirations

Michel Robichon SAS, one of two performing factories under the French international centralised organisation established by Groupe Glon and specialising in further processed cooked and coated products, now realises the increasing awareness and demand for Halal produce.

In search for a credible Halal system, they have stumbled upon Malaysia’s Halal system, which they found to be the one meeting their requirements in terms of credibility, integrity, and assurance.

For two and a half years now, the international centralised organisation has been established with the purpose of international sourcing for multiple raw materials, a network of agreed suppliers, an integrated production, control of different cooking processes, and mutual technical development.

All this on the basis of expanding out to meet the increasing competition in the industry, and to enhance the production technology they are lacking.

With a working system similar to that of a factory, this organisation consists of five divisions in charge of purchasing, research and development, logistics, quality, and commercial, each specifically responsible of its purpose.

This organisation acts as a hub for mainly meat- and poultry-based raw materials from international sources outside France, further processes them, and then sends the processed raw materials back out to their customers, who are mainly manufacturers of ready-to-eat meals.

Simply put, this organisation is the supplier of raw materials (both locally and internationally sourced) to manufacturers who will then put together components that make up a ready-to-eat meal.

These manufacturers may be the local French manufacturers, or other manufacturers outside of France, for example in other parts of Europe, the Middle East, Thailand, Argentina and Australia, all of which working both ways as raw material suppliers, and manufacturers.

Their most important concern is at being consistent in terms of maintaining and guaranteeing the quality of their products, which trickles down to the suppliers they source from, and the manufacturers they provide for. All in all, quality runs throughout their whole value chain, running on a system of its own.

An interesting occurrence, however, met them while dealing with customers from the Middle East, whereby the Middle Easterns requested for something they did not have, which is no other than the Halal certificate for their products.

Admitting they do not have Halal certified products, responded to the Middle Easterns, “We will check for sources certified Halal, and will come back with the supply once we have ascertained a source that is credible and that can guarantee its compliance with Halal principles,” says Mr Didier Moullec, who is in charge of international sourcing for Michel Robichon.

With similar occurrences of the like, the organisation thus recognises the increasing demand for Halal, which had ultimately led to the growth of the global Halal industry. Seeing this as an opportunity to tap into, and keeping with their principles of quality consistency, responsibility, and maintaining consumers’ trusts, the organisation started sourcing for Halal meat-based raw materials.

Having had 20 years experience of working in a factory producing chicken for the Middle Eastern market, Moullec explained, “The demand for Halal does not only come from a small community; it is starting to be a growing trend as a lifestyle and a choice – not only in France, but all over the world.”

“Coherently, as a food service provider that respects and is responsible to their customers’ needs, we will ensure that if the product is suppose to be Halal, then it will be; and we will guarantee that the source is from a truly credible, approved and recognised Halal compliant source. It is not about merely coming up with a paper that declares something is Halal, it is about the responsibility that comes with providing that piece of paper,” he added.

With many news, and promotion of the Malaysian Halal system and its variety of products and services, Michel Robichon saw the real potential of Malaysia as a global Halal hub, with the launching of the Prima Agri Halal Food Park.

They also heard of Malaysia’s other Halal-related initiatives in its efforts of spearheading the global Halal industry, such as the annual World Halal Forum and the Malaysian International Halal Showcase (MIHAS).

Additionally, Malaysia was seen to match with Michel Robichon’s parameters of sourcing requirements, such as global recognition and approval, competitiveness, and the drive and reactivity in pushing a global business.

Seeing the stability, credibility, and integrity of the Malaysian Halal standards, plus the fact that it is widely recognised worldwide, Prima Agri was seen as the best Halal manufacturer to source from, in addition to it being the only Malaysian company with compliance to the EU regulations and standards.

Michel Robichon sets forth to Malaysia with the mission of solely meeting with Prima Agri to secure a business agreement for Halal raw materials.

“When it comes to Halal demands, we are responding to our customers’ demands, and surely, our customers – food service sectors – are the same as Prima Agri’s. They are the same all over the world, and we have the same guarantee from the industries involved,” says Moullec.

“We believe that Prima Agri have the same global reflection as we do, and with their projection and other market views, we will be a good mix,” he added.

In explaining other reasons for choosing Prima Agri as their supplier of Halal produce, Moullec says, “We are not looking for huge factories. We are looking for factories that are able to produce what we want. Bigger factories cannot deliver this, because sometimes, they do not respond to what we ask for; they only offer what they want to sell, rather than those you are waiting for.

“Therefore, with this Prima Halal Food Park, although still in its developing stage, its 60 mini factories will be able to respond to our demand – with the ingredients we want, and the way we want it done.”

Believing in the potential of Halal and that it is the right choice for expansion, Moullec highlights that the scenario with Halal products back then is not as it is today, whereby it is respected and trusted as it corresponds to everyone’s standards, both Muslims and non-Muslims.