Halal cacao products for all

Its other halal cacao products includetablea, powder, nibs, and tea. (Contributed photo)

MOST people might think that ahalal-certified food is only for the Muslims.

However, MS3 Agri-Ventures CEO and managing director Neil “Abdul Kareem”Santillan said that for a food to be called halal, its main priority is thehygienic handling on top of many others which makes it also ideal even fornon-Muslims.

Being only one of the few producers of halal cacao products in Davao City, MS3Agri-Ventures produces halal tablea, powder, nibs, and tea. Only recently thecompany launched its Halal dark chocolate available in 50 percent, 65 percent,and 75 percent varieties. Their 50 percent was given the name Bonchoc or “Beanof Nature Chocolate.”

Santillan said the process of Halal chocolate making involves strict halalprocedures from fermentation of raw materials, to production, to packaging, upuntil logistics.

He said they use food grade plastic crates during the fermentation processwhich is very easier to clean compare to other crates.

The main objective of the process of halalreally is a clean way. We evaluate where the raw materials are from. During theproduction, the raw materials should not be over-roasted. Because if ithappens, it might cause the loss of nutrients. What you’re doing loses itsvalue with that. We also consider the nutritional value it has when makinghalal food,” said Santillan.

Aside from the fermentation and the processing itself, he also said they makesure to purchase packaging materials from a halal-certified source as well.

Currently, their packaging materials are sourced out from Metro Ace, aDavao-based company that specializes in halal packaging products. He said buyingfrom Metro Ace assures them that the materials had been checked properly toavoid any form of contamination.

Once the materials are already packaged, Santillan said the storage roomsshould also be halal.

“Before the cargo comes inside the warehouse or the storage area, it shouldundergo general washing to avoid contamination. It needs to be sterilized.Also, we make sure that the vehicle where the halal products are loaded is forexclusive use of the halal products only and not to be used for loading ofharam products,” he added.

He also said there are instances when non-Muslim companies are able to producehalal products. With this, Muslim employees also need to be deployed.

He further said that in making sure their products are halal, they stretch theirmarket reach as their products are very much safe both for Muslims andnon-Muslims primarily because of the company's strict compliance to hygienichandling protocols.

Even though the market for halal products in the world market is huge,Santillan said it is not easy to penetrate the business as thorough evaluationis needed to certify that a food, product, or service is indeed halal.

“Auditors inspect your area, your warehouse to make sure you can be certifiedhalal. It’s not really that simple that you only use the logo, you are alreadyhalal. It goes through certifying companies and agencies,” Santillan added.

Link->http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/business/2018/03/18/halal-cacao-products-all-594261