Feature Highlights
Value Added Food Products to Make Industry Viable
By Hayati Hayatudin
Jan 6, 2005, 17:58

Value Added Food Products to Make Industry Viable

Food production needs to diversify to strengthen the up and coming halal food hubs.

Industries keen on going big scale in food production should look at the endless possibilities of value added products, but should not confine itself to food of their ethnic origins only, but must broaden their horizons to food from other cultures.

This idea is shared by a leading manufacturer of halal frozen delicatessen, Prima Agri-Products Sdn Bhd (Prima Agri). Apart from marketing Malaysia’s very own satay across the globe, it has also successfully included value added products like halal salami, pepperoni and cold cuts - food out of its Malay ethnic origin – in its delicatessen repertoire. “We cannot limit ourselves to local products alone. We must expand to other tastes [like pepperoni, salami and sausages],” says Prima Agri group chief executive Datuk Jamaluddin A. Kadir.

Malaysia is not competitive to sell raw material but it has the elements to be a trading nation. Currently, Malaysia is more of a commodity exporter of palm oil and the likes. “But we have the capacity to be a food exporter,” he says. What Malaysia can do, he suggests, is to bring in raw material, turn them into halal value added products like cold cuts, cakes and pastries, and sell them to the global market.

This is where halal hubs play its role. “They can produce this value added products on a large scale,” says Jamaluddin. Halal hubs are currently being developed in Pulau Indah in Selangor, Pedas in Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu and in Gambang, Pahang by Prima Agri-Products. “Halal hub means export capable. Therefore the halal hub and the food production sector should complement each other,” he points out.

Malaysia’s projected food import bill for 2005, according to the Seventh and Eighth Malaysia Plans, stands at RM22 billion. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan and Third National Agriculture Policy, the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry wants to transform Malaysia into a net food exporter by 2010.

And the country seems to be on the right track. Malaysia has been widely recognised for its excellent halal standards, which is further strengthened by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia’s (JAKIM) halal certification. “[Our halal certification] is widely, in fact, internationally recognised,” its department’s director general Datuk Mustafa Abdul Rahman says.

JAKIM’s halal certification can be divided into three categories: food products, food premise and slaughter houses. Up to now, it has certified almost 300 slaughter houses all over the world. This has helped strengthen Malaysia’s image as an authority for halal certification and its products. The halal endorsement began in Malaysia in 1971 and the halal certification was introduced in 1994. In 1997, this certification system in Malaysia was made the basis for the Codex Alimentarius Commission in developing the General Guidelines for the usage of the term halal.

The United Nations has also recognised Malaysia as the best example in producing halal food products. In 1993, JAKIM was awarded the leader in halal certification by IFANCA and in 2004 the same award was given by the Islamic Food Council of Europe. In August 2004, JAKIM, with the Standards Department Malaysia launched the Malaysian Halal Standard MS 1500:2004, being the first halal standard in the world developed based on international standards. “We are very proud to be seen as leaders by other Muslim countries for our halal standards,” he says.

Currently, JAKIM is busy making Malaysia’s aim as the global halal food hub a reality. “[That] is the ultimate goal for us and the Malaysian government,” says Mustafa.

Even though the business of the halal hub falls under the purview of the International Trade and Industries Ministry, JAKIM is very excited about the project as it will be setting up shop in each and every halal hub in the country. “We will be certifying the products manufactured in the halal food hub itself,” he says. This move, according to Mustafa, is to facilitate halal certification and to make the process more transparent. “Most importantly [we want to] cut the red tapes,” he says.

The Malaysian government had, since May 2003, ordered JAKIM to stop issuing halal certificates to products manufactured out of Malaysia. “This move is to protect local products because foreign companies use JAKIM’s halal certification and logo to export their products to Muslim countries, especially in the Middle East,” he says. To solve this problem, JAKIM beefed up its enforcement at food production factories, which have received its certification, to ensure that they adhere to conditions. “[JAKIM’s] halal certification and logo is a service to the private sector in line with Malaysia’s vision of becoming a global halal food hub,” he says.

Many countries - be they Islamic or non-Islamic - want to be the number one player of the world's halal industries. Malaysia is one of them. International halal industry players acknowledge Malaysia’s competitive edges: it has been recognised as an Islamic country; has raw materials, supporting infrastructure as well as state-of-the-art processing technology; internationally-approved JAKIM's halal certification and a strong backup and blessing from the government. There is no stopping Malaysia from reaching its goals. The industry just needs to inject a little effort, and as many great world leaders would say, work hard.


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