[출처] The Korea
Herald_원문바로가기
Korean firms struggle to enter halal market
By Jung Min-kyung
Clinching globally acclaimed halal
certification key to expansion
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- South Korean
firms have been eyeing the expanding halal market for some years now, but
technical difficulties in receiving certifications and a lack of expertise in
attracting buyers continue to remain major hurdles.
More than 20 local firms flew to Kuala
Lumpur last week to participate in this year’s Malaysia International Halal
Showcase -- considered the biggest annual halal trade fair in the world with
participants from 700 firms in 44 countries.
Malaysia is seen as a key halal hub and
President Moon Jae-in expressed his desire to cooperate with the country “to
gain control over the global halal market,” during his state visit last month.
At MIHAS, which ran from April 3-6, several
Korean firms seemed enthusistic to meet buyers and potential customers, but
there were some who voiced honest skepticism on the current state of
preparedness.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left)
and first lady Kim Jung-sook (center) visit a booth to taste Korean
strawberries at the K-Wave & Halal Show in Kuala Lumpur on March 12.
(Yonhap)
“For entering the market we must now focus
on the needs of halal buyers,” said Kim Hanmoi, director of Halal Korea, who
participated as a local buyer to meet local small and medium-sized firms. The
firm is a local marketing and trading firm that deals with halal products.
“We need to move beyond certifications to
find out the ‘tastes’ of Malaysian customers -- which I believe is slightly
different from that of Koreans,” he added.
Despite Kim’s hopes, however, a majority of
the firms are still struggling with the concept of halal and choosing which
certification to apply for -- in order to succeed in the market.
“In order to be truly successful in
Malaysia, you must have a certification from the Department of Islamic
Development of Malaysia (JAKIM),” Faizal Bin Adnan, sales executive of Ramly
Food Processing, a major Malaysian frozen and fast-food company, famous for its
halal-certified meat, told The Korea Herald.
However, only few of the Korean participants
in MIHAS had got approval from JAKIM, while the majority had certifications
from either the Korean Muslim Federation or the United Arab Emirates’
certification body ESMA.
President Moon Jae-in (center left) and
first lady Kim Jung-sook (center right) make bibimbap, a Korean dish of rice
mixed with vegetables, at the K-Wave & Halal Show on March 12. They are
joined by Malaysian and Korean businessmen along with Korean celebrities.
(Yonhap)
Meanwhile, Japan has succeded in getting
JAKIM to establish a central halal kitchen on its soil, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo
Summer Olympics. A joint venture between Malaysian company Bangi Golf Resort
food service and its Japanese partner Curetex Corp. will manage a halal kitchen
that will supply ready-to-eat packaged food from this year to restaurants in
Tokyo. It will cater to the needs of Muslim tourists and athletes set to visit
Japan for the Olympics.
“Japan’s Nippon Asia Halal Association is
not as famous (as JAKIM), and not trusted by overseas consumers. JAKIM is
considered the No. 1 (halal) certification body all over the world,” Curetex
Chariman Masaki Fujishiro told reporters on the sidelines of MIHAS.
A KOTRA official said that Korea is still
in the early stages of entering the halal market and addressed the difficulties
of local firms vying for a JAKIM certification.
“It’s a fact that JAKIM’s certification is
recognized more across the world compared to KMF’s approval,” said Bok
Deok-gyu, deputy director of KOTRA’s new southern policy team.
Malaysia’s diverse ethnicity has
contributed to JAKIM’s meticulous reputation, making people more aware of the
ingredients that could be in discord with the Islamic Sharia law, according to
Bok.
“But it takes more time and money to
receive JAKIM certification for Korean firms -- costing around 15 million won
($13,000) per item including the travel fee for Malaysian officials. At the
moment, the most feasible option for local firms is to receive KMF
certification first,” he added, explaining that KMF is one of the 66 halal
certification bodies recognized by JAKIM.
Bok explained that it would be ideal for
Korean firms to rerceive KMF’s approval first in order to get JAKIM’s
certification, but realistically, they are too busy marketing their products at
the moment.
According to sources, it also took Japan
two years of discussions and nine months of inspection by JAKIM to clinch the
deal to open a center.
Bok also said that there is an underlying
hope in the Korean industry that the recent memorandum of understanding reached
between Korea and Malaysia will resolve the complications surrounding halal
certification.
“We aim to resolve complications with halal
certification by cooperating with Malaysia in other sectors as well. We are not
a Muslim-majority country and we are at a stage where we are trying to get
buyers and countries to understand our avid interest in the market,” he said.
The global halal food market is expected to
reach $2.1 trillion by 2025, according to a report by Grand View Research,
cited by Business Insider in 2017. The total Muslim population is expected to
increase from 23 percent now to around 30 percent of the total world population
by 2030.
According to officials here, the halal
market has reached 2 trillion won at the moment, but is expected to expand to 3
trillion won by 2022.
By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)
|