BRF To Increase Halal Processed-Food Production Capacity In Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Brazilian multinational food company BRF S.A aims to increase its halal processed-food capacity in Malaysia to 18,000 tonnes annually in the next three years. Its Global Chief Executive Officer, Pedro Faria said the expanded capacity, up from the current 10,000 tonnes per year, would also enable BRF to cater to the huge halal market in Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries. He was speaking to reporters after representing BRF at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) and Malaysian flour miller FFM Bhd here Monday. Under the MoU, HDC, with the support from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, will provide BRF training and accreditation of its factories worldwide based on the Malaysian halal standards such as MS1500:2009. BRF will contribute its knowledge in the global food processing industry with FFM, while FFM will share its knowledge of the Malaysian market with BRF. "Malaysia is a natural choice for our base to extend our halal leadership as it has a sophisticated Muslim consumer population, world-class halal expertise and institutional governance coordinated at the national level. "In addition, BRF's MoU with HDC reflects our commitment in building our halal base in Malaysia," Faria said. Last Friday, BRF announced that it had acquired 70 per cent of shares in FFM's wholly-owned unit, FFM Further Processing SDN BHD (FFP). The Brazilian food giant said it would invest US$16 million in FFP to further strengthen the local halal food industry and transform it into a significant global centre for food manufacturing and distribution. In 2011, BRF opened its halal dairy products factory in the Selangor Halal Hub (the Malaysia's first one-stop halal hub for upstream and downstream manufacturing activities) with an array of brands under its umbrella such as Sadia, Perdix and Perdigão. BRF, a merger between Sadia S.A and Perdigão S.A, has a long tradition of producing and selling halal food in Brazil. --BERNAMA