Seasoning Manufacturer Soy Shifts Focus Through Halal Certification
The Yomiuri Shimbun YAMAGATA—Marujyu Soysauce & Seasoning Corp., one of the
well-established seasoning manufacturers in Yamagata, became the first in the
prefecture to obtain halal certification in order to focus more on exporting
its products to the Muslim world. The certification is essential in developing
a business centering on food targeted at Muslims. With a population of over 1.6
billion Muslims around the world and with an increasingly appealing market,
there is a growing interest in the certification among companies around the
prefecture.
An Islamic legal expert from the Japan Halal
Association, an Osaka-based nonprofit organization which issues halal
certificates, visited the company on April 28 and gave 51-year-old Tomoaki
Sato, the president of the company, the good news that their soy sauce products
had been certified as halal products. It is not only the first halal
certification for soy sauce products in Yamagata Prefecture, but also the first
in the country.
Halal certification proves that the product
complies with Islamic law. Halal means “permitted by God” in Arabic. To be
certified, there are rules such as not including pork or alcohol, which are
forbidden by Muslim law, and not using cooking utensils that have come into
contact with such items. Besides food-related products such as food additives
and seasoning materials, items such as cosmetics and medical products are also
covered by halal rules.
There are no internationally unified certification
organizations, but there are over 10 such organizations in Japan.
Marujyu currently has dealings in eight
countries, such as China and South Africa. Overseas sales currently account for
less than 10 percent of the total sales, but foreseeing that the domestic
market would shrink in the future, the company shifted its focus to Muslim
countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where there is significant
economic growth, and started working toward obtaining halal certification in
April last year.
First, Marujyu asked the companies that
supplied the raw materials for the soy sauce to submit documents that proved
they did not use any foodstuff that violated halal standards. Marujyu even
changed suppliers in case of noncooperation. The adhesive tape used for
packaging was also changed to a type that did not include pig-derived gelatin.
In order to learn about production line
management, 11 employees were sent to Japanese food company factories in
Malaysia in February. After their return to Japan, a new production line was
constructed with halal certification in mind. On April 16, Marujyu cleared the
last hurdle for obtaining the certification when a maulvi, or Islamic legal
expert, from the Japan Halal Association visited the company and personally
cleansed the production lines and pots.
Marujyu plans to export its soy sauce products
to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai in United Arab Emirates through its
affiliated trading company as early as mid-July. The company is also
considering obtaining halal certificates for its other products such as miso.
A business seminar for halal certification
will be held for the first time in Yamagata on May 26. It will be hosted by
JETRO Yamagata (a local office of the Japan External Trade Organization), the
Yamagata International Economic Development Support Organization, and the
Shonai Bank. The organizers say there have been applications from food
companies and hotels within the prefecture.
According to JETRO, halal is an important concept not only in
exporting products overseas, but also in attracting tourists to the region from
Muslim countries, and the seminar aims to help businesses in the prefecture
understand halal.