Halal food at Paris

HDC opens Halal food channel to France

PARIS: Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) is set to step up its presence in Europe following a strategic partnership with French Glon Groupe, which will spur bilateral trade of halal products in a Halal corridor between France and Malaysia.

HDC, which is wholly owned by the government, signed a memorandum of understanding with Benefiq Pte Ltd, a newly formed company that will lead Glon’s agri food business thrust in Asia, in Paris yesterday.

The MoU will establish a strategic partnership to facilitate bilateral opportunities between Malaysia and France in the areas of trade, supply chain management and research and development.

The Singapore-based Benefiq is a leading French vertical agriculture integrator — a proprietary service standard and process that provides quality assurance throughout the entire agricultural supply chain from the development and creation of the product and its distribution, to the final end-user.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is on a four-day official visit to France. Signing on behalf of HDC was its CEO Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin while Benefiq was represented by its chairman Benoit Glon.

Under the MoU, HDC will collaborate with Benefiq to provide Malaysian companies the opportunities to further develop their skills in R&D and modern agriculture TECHNOLOGY []. The MoU will set up the world’s first working platform between Malaysia and Bretagne, France to expand bilateral trade of halal products between the two countries.

The Halal Corridor project is being developed as a catalyst for agri food businesses from France to penetrate the global halal markets under Malaysia’s globally recognised halal accreditation and for Malaysian agri businesses to enter the European Union (EU) market via the Bretagne’s EU-recognition.

This will involve establishing a HDC-Benefiq halal programme, which will streamline all halal-only products that are bilaterally traded in the project.

Jalil said: “Today’s MoU with Glon Groupe’s Asian representative Benefiq is indeed a significant milestone for HDC and the halal industry in echoing the prime minister’s call to make Malaysia an international hub for halal products and services.

“HDC will continue to strive to identify strategic partners like Benefiq, to help accelerate the growth of the halal industry. By collaborating with Benefiq, HDC aims to provide a platform for companies in Malaysia with an opportunity to penetrate the halal market in Europe via Britanny, as the gateway.

“Importantly, it will allow French companies to use Malaysia as a base to penetrate the Asean market.”

Given that the concept of halal is universal, Jamil said it promotes cleanliness, safety and quality that are hallmarks of many globally recognised food standards.

He added: “Malaysia will assume a significant role in the halal marketplace as HDC believes the halal market will offer new sources of growth, wealth and additional income for the nation.”

A statement released in conjunction with the signing ceremony, said the Glon Groupe, a leading European agri food company with an annual turnover of €1.65 billion (RM8.3 billion) and 60 years of experience in the food processing industry, would bring its time-tested philosophy of creating a successful agricultural eco-system to benefit all involved in the “halal agricultural value food chain”.

It said the emphasis would be to ensure that sovereign security for food supply chain management is available to Malaysians and the overall halal market. Benefiq’s primary focus is to position Malaysia as a strategic hub and centre of excellence for the halal market in Asia and the rest of the world.

With the MoU, the halal industry will have access to breakthrough technology that leads in traceability and sustainability from “farm to fork”.

Information from HalalFocus.com

Other definition of halal

Halal is an Arabic word meaning "lawful" or "permitted," but it is generally used in reference to food that fulfills Muslim dietary rules.

It is similar to the Hebrew word "kosher," which references food that is permissible to eat according to Jewish dietary standards.

Definitions

1. In Arabic, the opposite of "halal" is "haram." Most food falls into either the halal or haram categories, but there are certain items, such as processed or man-made foods, that are called "mashbooh," or "doubtful."

Further research is needed before classifying them as halal or haram.
An important distinction when it comes to using the word "halal"
Halal is that it does not always refer to food. In Arabic,
anything in accordance with the Sharia is halal.
However, outside the Arab world, including by non-Arab Muslims,
the term is used almost entirely as it relates to food.
In fact, in many places it has an even narrower definition,
referring only to meat that is permitted under Islamic law.

Halal and Haram Examples

2. Natural fruits, vegetables, juices, fish,
and natural ingredients such as sugar and honey are halal.

For meat, the animal must be slaughtered by a method called "dhabiha."
Foods that are definitely haram include
all products from pigs; meat from improperly slaughtered animals;
alcohol and intoxicants; carnivorous animals; birds of prey;
land animals without external ears (snakes and reptiles for example);
blood and blood by-products.

Foods that are mashbooh include gelatin, and enzymes
and emulsifiers of unknown origin.

Dhabiha

1.
Dhabiha, like the kosher "schechting, " is a swift incision made with
a sharp knife on the animal's neck, cutting both the jugular vein
and carotid artery. The spinal cord must remain intact.
Many Muslims do, in fact, consider kosher meat halal,
though stricter adherents do not. Orthodox Jews,
however, do not consider halal meat as kosher, because
kosher schechting does have other requirements.

Forbbiden Things

1.
The Sharia forbids the eating of pork; the meat from birds of prey
and land-based carnivores; the meat from animals
that were killed by strangulation or beating;
the meat from animals from a variety of named sources
that effectively precludes scavenging a carcass; and blood.
The latter might seem morbid, but many medieval recipes
were efficient about getting nutrients from an animal,
and used blood as an ingredient.

Also, any animal killed without the act being in the name of God
are also not halal. Alcohol is also expressly forbidden.

What is Permitted?

1. It is guessed that 70 percent of Muslims live up to the halal standards.
This permits poultry, water foul, beef and the flesh of many other
herbivores with cloven feet, assuming that all of it has been killed
and butchered correctly. Fish are also on the menu,
with there being no special requirements for their preparation.
All shellfish are also halal.

Halal food at Bali

“One Stop With No Doubt” is the slogan of an international restaurant called Madania, which serves halal food, acceptable in accordance with Islamic rules.

Since Bali now hosts a large number of tourists from Muslim countries such as Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and those from Middle Eastern countries, Madania Restaurant on Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai, in the Kuta tourism hub, caters successfully to diners with such dietary restrictions.

“We have been trying to offer something different in the highly competitive Balinese restaurant business by serving food for new holidaymakers from Muslim countries,” said Arief Fathkhul Muchtadi, operation manager of Madania Restaurant.

All food and beverages that appear on the menu of the restaurant establishment is free of alcohol and other haram, or forbidden, ingredients such as pork, pork derivatives and select seasonings.

The spacious restaurant has been designed carefully to reflect Islamic nuances. And even while serving strictly halal dishes, it offers a large variety of cuisines such as Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern and Western cuisines.

“We just replace certain ingredients that are not edible for Muslim clientele. But the flavor is still as delicious as the original,” Arief said.

With a seating capacity of 175 and its strategic location, Madania is easily accessible and only a five-minute drive from Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Open from 9 a.m. through 11 p.m., the restaurant is always crowded with both local and foreign diners.

In addition, a small mosque has been built in the corner of the facility to enable Muslim customers to observe daily prayers before, after or even during their visit.

“I don’t have to find a nearby mosque to pray and I really like the atmosphere of this restaurant,” commented Fatima, a visitor from Malaysia.

With Malaysian Air, Air Asia and Qatar Airlines plying direct routes to Bali, the number of visitors from Muslim countries has been increasing dramatically in the last few months.

Restaurants serving halal food is poised to become a red-hot business on the island of Bali, which is generally known for local specialties such as bebek Bali (duck with Balinese spices), sate babi (pork satay) and babi guling (roast pork).

Today, Bali is filled to bursting with hundreds of cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars catering to holidaymakers from traditional tourist markets like Japan, Australia, South Korea and Europe. But the tourism demographic has been shifting, with Bali welcoming more and more visitors from India, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. Now, tourists from Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries are also flocking to the Island of the Gods.

“Hundreds of Malaysians fly to Bali on weekends and holidays to shop,” said Fatima, adding that she has just bought a bulk of garments and handicrafts from the Sukawati art market in Gianyar.

For local businesspeople, this shift in the market trend has opened new business opportunities.

“What is important is to set high cooking and serving standards in line with international standards,” said Arief.

At Mandania, dining guests can order delicious Yakiniku (Japanese-style braised beef, Soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles) or fresh Chinese and seafood dishes at affordable prices.

“We can be so innovative in creating and serving food and beverages to meet the needs of Muslim customers,” Arief said.

For example, he said, Mandania’s bar staff have produced a mocktail that is as tasty and fresh as the alcoholic original. A myriad selection of ice cream, milk shakes and juices also appear on the menu.

The restaurant’s experience in providing catering services for Qatar Airlines, which now flies direct to Bali thrice weekly, stands testament to their quality, halal menu.

“We have to admit that only a very few Westerners eat here,” Arief added. “But we welcome them to come taste our food and drinks.”

Madania Restaurant
Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No.29F
Kuta, Bali
Phone: (0361) 764787
Fax: (0361) 764483
madania@telkom.net