Unilever Indonesia to become 100 pct halal with certification of ninth factory
Photo: ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS August 13, 2015: Unilever is a multinational company in the field of food, personal care and cleaning products / JPstock / Shutterstock.com
JAKARTA – Unilever Indonesia is in the process of getting halal-certified for its ninth factory, which manufactures home care powder products such as washing detergents.
The company's eight other factories are already halal-certified to produce toothpaste, soap bars, Dove branded products, home and personal care liquids, personal care/skin products, and food products such as ice-cream, margarine and tea.
The company's nine factories are in Cikarang and Rungkut, West Java.
Sancoyo Antarikso, Governance and Corporate Affairs Director & Corporate Secretary for Unilever Indonesia said the company applied for its first halal certificate in 1994 from Indonesian Ulema Council's Assessment Institute for Food, Drugs and Cosmetics (LPPOM-MUI).
According to Antarikso, 99 percent of Unilever Indonesia’s products are halal and the company hopes that by the end of the current quarter all its products will be halal-certified.
“We hope by the end of this quarter, or at least end of this year, all of our factories will get halal certificates. This halal certificate matters considering that more than 90 percent of the Indonesian market is Muslim. Getting halal certification means providing assurance and peace of mind for consumers,” Antarikso told reporters in Jakarta yesterday.
He added that the company works with LPPOM-MUI to ensure compliance for Unilever imports that may come from India or Thailand.
HALAL CERTIFICATION
Vice Director of LPPOM-MUI Muti Arintawati said Unilever Indonesia normally receives its halal certificate within 75 days of application.
The turnaround for applications depends on the number of products applied for. The quickest turnaround for a halal certificate awarded to Unilever was 14 days.
“At present, Unilever already has a halal guarantee system. [This] can [help the company] benefit [from] several things such as getting halal-certified faster, [and achieving a] more sustainable halal production process,” she said.
Arintawati added that halal certification from LPPOM-MUI safeguards a company such as Unilever against claims that its products contain non-permissible ingredients such as emulsifiers and stabilizers E471 and E472 that may contain non-halal animal products.
GROWTH
Unilever Indonesia is aiming for a 10 percent sales growth this year and expects an uptick in Ramadhan that begins in early June.
Last month the company announced that its net profit had dropped 1.2 percent in 2015 to 5.85 trillion rupiah ($443.2 million) despite a 5.7 percent growth in sales amid the weakening rupiah.
The company has allocated 1.4 trillion rupiah for capital expenditure to expand its production capacity, said Antarikso.
Unilever Indonesia is a subsidiary of Unilever BV. The company is behind more than 400 brands including Lipton, Wall's, Dove, Lux, Rexona and Lifebuoy. In Indonesia the company produces 28 brands.
Unilever's global turnover was 53.3 billion euros ($60.68 billion) in 2015, with emerging markets accounting for 58 percent of all its business, according to the company's website.
($1 = 13,285 rupiah)
(Reporting by Yosi Winosa)
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