“HALAL, MADE IN TAIWAN” TAIWANESE PRODUCTS WITH HALAL LOGO IN MALAYSIA (PART 2)

Location: AEON Supermarket at AEON Mall, Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan

Observation Areas: All isles, with focus on Sauce and Flavour Enhancer section, Snack section, and Special Event areas

Date and Time: 24^th November 2019, 12.00 pm

Authors:

Khairul Akmaliah Adham, USIM

Mohd Fuaad Said, UPM

Nur Sa’adah Muhamad, UKM

Background

This observation was conducted as a part of our study on understanding the halal industry ecosystem of Taiwan. Specifically, the study examines the extended value chain of products with halal logo exported from Taiwan. We selected the Malaysian market, one of Taiwan’s export market with a large population of Muslim consumers as the study’s focus. The observation’s objective was to check the availability of Made in Taiwan’s products with halal logos, in the Malaysian market. 

In this article, we report the findings of food products observation conducted at AEON Supermarket, located inside of AEON Mall Nilai in Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan. Bandar Baru Nilai is located within the greater Klang Valley, about 60 km south of Kuala Lumpur. AEON Supermarket provides customers with varieties of products, ranging from food products to household products.

Method

The observation method adopted in this study involves physical visits to selected supermarkets and convenient stores to check the availability of Made in Taiwan food products with halal logos on the shelf. This particular observation was conducted by observers, first scanning through all the isles in the supermarket, and later by observing the Sauce and Food Enhancer section, Snack section, and Special Event areas as Taiwanese products are mostly food products that are generally available in those sections.

Overall observation

At the Sauce and Food Enhancer section, the observers carefully checked all products displayed on the 7-tier food shelves. The upper three tiers of the shelves displayed Malaysian’s products, and the remaining tiers were dedicated for imported products, mainly from Singapore, China and Taiwan (Picture 1). The observers noticed that all imported products in this section displayed Chinese characters on their packaging.

In this observation, six imported Made in Taiwan products from four different brands were spotted, namely Hosen, Makmur, Panda and Melovcom. Hosen brand offered a pickled lettuce product that carried the halal logo from Taiwan Halal Integrity Development Association (THIDA). Similarly, Makmur brand’s pickled lettuce product also carried the halal logo of THIDA on the packaging. On the other hand, Panda brand, which offered two products (pickled lettuce and pickled cucumber), did not carry any halal logo. Whereas for Melovcom brand, which offered two products on the shelf, one of the products (pickled bamboo shoot) was stamped with the halal logo of THIDA, while another of its product, Bean Curd with Chili did not carry any halal logo, despite both coming from the same brand. See Picture 2.

Picture 1: 7-tier shelf of pickled and instant paste food products at Sauce and Food Enhancer section

Note: The upper three tiers displayed Malaysian products, while the rest of the tiers were dedicated for imported products, including Taiwanese products.

Picture 2: Made in Taiwan pickled food products, with halal logo

Note: Out of six Taiwanese’s products found at the pickled food shelf, only three products (A, B, C) carried halal logos. All three products carried halal logo of THIDA.

Located just opposite of the pickled food shelf was a 5-tier sauce products shelf (Picture 2). Our observers spotted two products of Taiwan, namely soy sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce. No halal logo was observed on either product. The soy sauce was located at the topmost tier of the shelf, while the vegetarian oyster sauce was located at the third tier.

At the time of the visit, AEON Supermarket was hosting one Imported Food Fair at the Special Event areas, showcasing food products specifically from South Korea, Taiwan, and China (refer Picture 3). The Special Event area was dedicated to display and promote new products available at the supermarket to the customers. The products displayed in the event were mainly food products, namely candies, snacks, instant noodles, jellies, beverages, cookies, crackers, cakes, and mochi. The sections were divided based on the countries of origin, namely Taiwan, South Korea, and China.

At the Taiwanese products area, observers were able to spot more Taiwanese products; many of them were unfamiliar to the observers. Most of the products’ packaging were attractive and able to hold the customers’ attention. The observers, with the assistance from the promoters at the event section, were able to locate three Taiwanese’s products that carried the halal logo of THIDA. The products were GGE wheat crackers, Japanese mochi, and Dongpo vegetarian jerky. Refer Picture 4 and 5.  

Picture 3: The Imported Food Fair, a special event organized by AEON Supermarket

Note: During the Imported Food Fair at AEON Supermarket, many products from Korea, Taiwan, and China were put on display and promotion. Customers were given the opportunity to sample selected food products from these three countries for free.

Picture 4: Taiwanese products that were displayed at the Event section

Note: The products with halal logo displayed in this event were put together with products with no halal logo.

Picture 5: Three Taiwanese’s products that carried halal logo

 Note: Products A, B, and C, with halal logo of THIDA, on display in the event section. 

From the event section, the observers continued to locate Taiwanese products at Snack section. At this section, our observers found one Taiwanese’s snack product that did not carry any halal logo. 

Specific Findings

1. The AEON Supermarket in this observation did not provide specific section/shelf for products with halal logo. Products with halal logo and products without halal logo were on display together, and categorized by product type, for examples, snacks section, instant noodles section.  

2. There were a number of Taiwanese’s food products available at AEON Supermarket, that carry halal logo and without halal logo. Some of the products were labelled as vegetarian food.

3. Visibility of the food products – Taiwanese products were generally less visible to the observers’ eyes, compared to other imported products from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia that were abundantly available at the supermarket. This situation may be due to the products from these countries being available in Malaysian markets much earlier (for example Made in Thailand products). Therefore, based on our observation, more customers were readily familiar with certain products but not others. In addition, some of the products have been heavily marketed, such as Korean products that were placed and promoted in many Korean dramas or social media. Whereas the products from Thailand, particularly those with halal logo, were simply most visible due to the high number of availability.

4. Visibility of halal logo – Taiwanese products that carry halal logo were notably limited in number, compared to other imported products from Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. The halal logo printed on the packaging (either at front or at the back of packaging) were in good quality and aesthetic, and customers could easily identify the halal body that certified the products.

5. All Taiwanese’s products that carry halal logo, in AEON Supermarket, were stamped by THIDA, which is the only halal certification body from Taiwan that is listed as the recognized foreign halal body by JAKIM (JAKIM, 2019).

Additional findings from the observation:

1. Cross-countries halal certification – During the observation conducted at AEON Supermarket, the observers spotted a number of imported products that carried the halal logos of foreign countries that were not their countries of origin. One Made in Japan product, Nissin Japanese Ramen Instant Noodle, carried the halal logo from Indonesia, which is the Indonesian Ulema Council or Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI). Whereas KMT Honey Jujube, a product from South Korea, carried the halal logo of Malaysia – JAKIM. See Picture 6.

2. Visibility of halal logo – Many imported products with halal logo from Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia had the respective halal logos stamped on the front part of the packagings, making them visible to the eyes of the customers. Refer Picture 7.

3. Product identity – The observers noticed that many imported products highlighted the countries of origin on the products’ packaging, effectively promoting the said countries. Expressions such “Made in Japan” or the country’s flag or name of country were visible at the front part of the packagings. Refer Picture 7. 

Picture 6: Cross-country halal certification

Note: Product A is Instant Ramen from Japan, which carry halal logo from The Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI). Product B is Jujube honey from Korea, which carry halal logo from Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM). These are examples of cross-country halal certification practices.

               Picture 7: Korean products with visible halal logo on front packaging

Note: These two instant noodles products are from South Korea. Both products put halal logo on the front packaging, making it visible to the customers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors acknowledge the financial support of Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (CCKF Taiwan) Research Grant, under project number RG009-P-18, and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) for the administration of the research grant, under the university research code USIM/INT_CCKF/FEM/053000/41919.

REFERENCES

JAKIM. (2019). The Recognised Foreign Halal Certification Bodies & Authorities. Retrieved from http://www.halal.gov.my/v4/.

Disclaimer: Our observations and analyses of products with halal logo that are available in this supermarket are not meant to be exhaustive and should not be taken as evidence of adequacy or inadequacy of the supplies.