Taipei - Taiwan is encouraging its food exporters to tap the
Muslim world's huge market for halal food, but the response has been
lukewarm so far as companies do not yet see a profit in producing
food that complies with Islamic law.
At the 2009 Taipei International Food Show, held from Tuesday
until Friday, Taiwan for the first time opened a Halal Pavilion with
some 40 companies setting up booths.
The halal foods they showcased were few - rice, biscuits, soya
sauce, vinegar, picked vegetables, chocolate paste and an ice desert
called 'Snow Ice.'
Many Taiwanese queued up for a free cup of Snow Ice, but few
foreign buyers placed orders for the halal products.
'Some South-East Asian buyers stopped by and talked with us, but
they did not place orders,' Hsu Chih-ho, manager of the ASI channel
Service Co Ltd, which makes fruit vinegar, said.
At the booth across the aisle, Fufann Enterprise drew a small
crowd tasting its chocolate-covered biscuits.
'We have just received the halal certificate, but haven't begun
exporting to Muslim countries yet. We are here to find buyers,' a
company representative said.
Their products include chocolate paste, sesame paste, coconut
paste, creamy paste and garlic paste which can be put on toast or
bread.
But the Charmy Food Co Ltd that sells Snow Ice is optimistic about
the export market for its halal Snow Ice - a bowl of shaved ice
topped with fruits and nuts.
'We plan to open franchises in India and Jordan in the coming
year, and are looking to move into other Muslim countries,' Charmy
manager Hsu Shih-ho said.
Some Taiwan companies, though not producing halal food in Taiwan,
have opened factories abroad to produce halal food there.
The Uni-President Enterprises Corp, Taiwan's largest food
conglomerate, has opened factories in several South-East Asian
countries, and its plants in Vietnam and Indonesia have obtained the
halal certificate, company spokeswoman Wu Hsu-hui said.
Taiwan is one of the world's top-20 exporting countries and has a
good reputation for its food products - meat, fruits, vegetables and
drinks.
In 2008, Taiwan's food exports totalled 2.7 billion US dollars,
according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
Yet producing halal food is only a recent thing, and it has been
overshadowed by the rush of Taiwan food companies to open factories
in China, the world's largest production base and consumer market.
Taiwan began to encourage its food exporters to tap the halal food
market in 2006, with TAITRA holding introduction seminars and the
Chinese Muslim Association (CMA) - Taiwan's highest Muslim authority
- issuing the halal certificates.
The reason is clear: there are some 1.6 billion Muslims in the
world, or a quarter of the world population. The annual production
value of halal food is estimated at 600 billion US dollars a year and
is growing.
Taiwan, where most people are Buddhists, has 50,000 Muslims plus
100,000 foreign Muslims, mostly Indonesian workers. The island has
six mosques.
CMA said it is happy to see Taiwan food companies are paying
attention to halal food, but hopes they will not only focus on
exports, but should also supply halal food to Taiwan-based Muslims.
It also hopes that the government will involve the CMA more in
promoting halal food to prevent making it into a purely commercial
thing.
Imam Ma Hsiao-chi, deputy secretary-general of the CMA, said the
organization is happy to help Taiwan food companies receive the halal
certificate, but must ensure all the requirements are met.
'These requirements include that the food ingredients must not
contain pork or alcohol, the company must not be near a pig farm, and
the production equipment and production procedure must also meet
halal rules,' he told the German Press Agency dpa.
'When a company applies for halal certification, it sends its
documents to us explaining production procedure and we send two to
three staff to inspect the company, and give the company workers a
six-hour introduction to Islam and halal food. At the production site
the halal sign should be put up and everyone must observe the rules,'
he said.
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