By Debbie Too

GHANIM International Food Corp Sdn Bhd is keeping its doors open to the possibility of helping domestic poultry producers export their goods to Singapore using the premium Brunei Halal brand.

In an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday, Noel Shield, Ghanim interim chief executive, said: "Poultry and fresh meat products are definitely a part of the products on the list of products to be included in the Brunei Halal brand for sure, however it will depend on what the market wants and needs." Ghanim International is the company appointed by His Majesty's Government to oversee the Brunei Halal brand.

Recently, the Agriculture Department said it was looking forward to facilitating poultry exports by private growers via the premium brand. Mulaut Abattoir is also confident it could get licence to use the brand to ease its entry in export markets for its processed meat products.

Should their studies show that there is an opportunity in foreign markets, like the Middle East, Shield said they will definitely consider the intention of interested companies who wish to be represented by the brand.

"The whole thing is market driven, even if we see an opportunity to export to Singapore or Hong Kong, then we will do it, however, there is no specific date on when this will happen," he told The Brunei Times.

Shield emphasised that the reason Ghanim is particular about overseas market potential is because it is not eyeing the domestic market for distribution of products bearing the premium brand. Aiming for the Brunei market will only add competition to the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), he said.

"We do not want to compete with the local SMEs because that is not part of our plan," said Shield.

In an earlier interview, Dr Dabeding Hj Dullah, assistant director of the Agriculture Department, said his office is positive domestic poultry producers will be able to ship to Singapore next year, hopefully under the Brunei Halal brand, as Brunei is currently 100 per cent self-sufficient in poultry.

Dr Dabeding said exporters will be making use of the Brunei Halal brand and that this will hopefully lead to exports to the Middle East and other markets with high demand for poultry.

"The Brunei Halal brand should come not only as a halal product, but a product of quality," he said.

Mulaut Abattoir is also considering obtaining a licence to use the Brunei Halal brand to help ease its entry in lucrative Islamic markets for beef products, said the company's acting deputy general manager. "Mulaut Abattoir has been trying to export Mulaut-Haoyue beef to Islamic countries under the Brunei Halal brand," Pg Imran Pg Hj Sabli said.

"We are confident that the Brunei Halal brand is a strong brand, and given time and publicity, the Halal brand will penetrate the global halal market," he said of the recently launched seal, which the Sultanate deems will make a splash in Islamic markets chiefly due to its reputation for strict adherence to principles governing food preparation under Islamic teachings.

However, at the moment, Ghanim International Food Corp Sdn Bhd has yet to consider Bruneian companies in the initial batches that will carry the seal.

"We are not concentrating on local production and nearly all of the companies we are working with now are all international companies, about 90 per cent," said Shield, in a previous interview.

"(This) for the simple reason that they've got fairly big production scales now," he explained.

"I've kept local companies on a separate list because I started to look at the local SMEs and went to visit them at their factories. I haven't fully got into pricing structure, but what I've done is see how it is done and see where we can take cost out of their current business."

Once the brand's marketing strategies get on stream though, it should be easier for high-cost SMEs to get on board.

Ghanim is the Brunei firm that handles and manages the marketing of the Sultanate's premium halal brand which takes advantage of the country's reputation in selling goods to a growing Muslim market.

The firm is looking at major retailers such as Tesco and Carrefour to help sell products registered under the Brunei Halal brand to its target markets.

Among some of the objectives for the Brunei Halal brand are giving local firms a platform at gaining a slice of the global halal market, which is estimated at US$580.9 billion and growing rapidly.