Such a need is part of what drives people like Murtaza “Ali” Alarakhia, Director of Malaysia Halal Consulting and Training (MHCT). In work with Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways, he has been involved in making airline-catering units Halal compliant since 1996. Now, his firm has teamed with Atlanta-based Clear Quality Group to offer airline-catering units an important combination of services that include Halal auditing and food safety and hygiene. The two companies began offering the joint services to caterers this fall. What the synergy between the two companies is offering to the airline caterer’s customers and their passengers, says Ali, is peace of mind. “The need is growing with a (Muslim) population that is more savvy and is asking more questions,” he said. At one time, Ali said it might have been acceptable for airline catering units to adopt a simple stance to prepare meals without using pork or alcohol. Now, he said, demand has been raised several notches, and he stresses to customers that strict compliance with Halal practices is really the only option. A Halal compliant audit of the variety carried out by MHCT can take approximately three days. The company conducts a pre-assessment and makes recommendations, much of which is devoted to ways a unit can conduct day-today operations with separate portion of operation devoted to handling, storing and preparing Halal products. A second audit is conducted to ensure the operations are in place, and a final debriefing of the staff takes place before it is certified. In all the steps along the way, Ali said that MHCT’s task is as much educational as it is compliance related. “We will actually impart knowledge to the staff to ensure they are aware and there is more of an understanding as to why they are not supposed to do something,” he said. Within airline catering units, the task of maintaining the Halal integrity often falls on people who work in quality assurance. “Halal means clean,” said Lin Holcomb, founder of Clear Quality Group. “We want to make sure it is clean from a Halal standpoint and clean from a hygiene standpoint.”
Taking Halal international Its newest product may have the flavors of the old southern United States in some of its spices, and coatings, but the new Southern
Fried Chicken Poppers now developed by Green Gourmet has another group of consumers that it can satisfy. At this year’s ITCA/SIAL event, the U.K.-based company will be showing passersby the latest offering in the “it’s just…” line. Rob White, International Business Development Manager at Green Gourmet said to make the product Halal compliant, the firm banked on its experience supplying schools throughout the United Kingdom with Halal compliant products. The company’s customers in France and Germany have also prevailed upon Green Gourmet to supply
Green Gourmet used its experience in education food service to develop a Halal compliant product in the company’s “it’s just…” line
produced in an airline environment without a fryer. Its first trip into the airline-catering segment took place at last year’s World Travel Catering Expo in Hamburg. The company is now in the process of development a number of follow on products. Another food product with nearly universal appeal is pizza, consumed in some shape, form or interpretation in countries far and wide. From two plants in Italy, ARAlimentare produces pizzas of natural ingredients that meet British Retail Council and International Featured Standard specifications. But on many of the pizza products, passengers may see the IHSRAM logo certifying the product is Halal compliant. “Basically, the passenger is able to recognize that they are consuming a meal that meets their cultural standards,” said Giuseppe Grossi, Sales and Marketing Director for ARAlimentare. ARAlimentare’s two plants each have different missions. One plant produces products for the retail market and the other makes pizzas that require a more hands-on look and appeal. It is from the latter plant that many of the pizzas for the company’s airline customers use as a second service on long-haul flights. Some of the customization requires more than changing the look. In the past, ARAlimentare
“The need is growing with a (Muslim) population that is more savvy and is asking more questions.” Murtaza “Ali” Alarakhia Director of Malaysia Halal Consulting and Training modified products for their Muslim customers. Ham toastinis and croque-monsieurs can be made with turkey and Halal compliant chicken. “Because we have experience of Halal we can source a product and turn it around reasonably quickly,” said White. The company also expects to spend more and more time in the Middle East. The “it’s just… my bag of fries” is now part of a second service in Diamond Class on Etihad Airways. It achieved the sales with an innovative approach allowing products such as French Fries and, now, Southern Fried Chicken to be
has made a chicken tikka pizza for an Indian airline and a prawn and coriander pizza for a Thai customer. ARAlimentare products have made their way into the airline cabin on nearly all the service-oriented carriers in the Middle East. Grossi attributes the company’s success in the transportation sector to its selection of all natural ingredients sourced mainly form Italy, and the company’s ability to meet stringent airline specification not just for dietary needs, but the flexibility of production that can place a product of just about any weight and size to suit the confines of an airline cabin.
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