AL SAFA HALAL WINS EXPORT AWARD

TORONTO, CANADA, November 1 – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced today that it has awarded the Canadian Agri-Food Award of Excellence for Agri-Food Export to Al Safa Halal of Cambridge, Ontario. The announcement was made at the Canadian Agri-Food Awards of Excellence Luncheon on November 1 at The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by venture capital firms Otter Capital and Packaged Food Investors, Al Safa Halal is North America’s leading provider of “Halal” food products – products that conform to Shariah (Islamic religious law). Founded in 1999, Al Safa Halal was originally established to provide fresh and frozen Halal meat products to the large Muslim community in Toronto, Ontario. Within a year, however, the company was exporting its products to the United States, and today the U.S. accounts for over 80% of the company’s sales. According to Steve Hahn, Al Safa’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the company’s product mix has grown as well. “When we started out, we were mainly providers of unprocessed meat products – hamburger meat, whole chickens, items like that. But we quickly came to learn that Muslim consumers want what mainstream consumers want – convenience. Today we still make those original products, but the bulk of our sales are in ‘convenience foods’ that can be prepared in an oven, toaster oven or microwave. Items like chicken nuggets, pizzas, Microwave Beef Pockets.” Next up on Al Safa’s development slate: Popcorn Chicken. When asked to account for Al Safa’s tremendous success, Hahn named three significant factors. “I would have to say Quality, Dependability and Availability,” he said. “By Quality I mean that all our production facilities are certified by CFIA (the Canadian Food Inspection Agency), so they’re all state of the art. By Dependability, I mean that all our products are certified as Halal by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). They’re an independent, third party organization, and their seal is on every box of product we produce. So a customer in Detroit or Chicago or Houston can look at our product and be assured that a recognized national religious organization has certified that the product is 100% Halal. The third element is Availability. We have an extensive network of distributors throughout the U.S., and our products are available across the country, coast-to-coast. So when a supermarket in Texas or Florida calls up and wants an order filled tomorrow, we can do that.” Hahn also emphasized the leverage provided by Al Safa’s wide variety of products. “There are some companies out there who make one or two Halal products – often some kind of sausage or deli meat, usually for a local market – but that’s very different from making over twenty different products and being able to deliver them nationally, and to do so week after week after week.” Hahn agreed. “It’s true – that’s another area where Al Safa has a real advantage. And variety is very important for moving our products out of specialty stores – Halal groceries and butcher shops – and into mainstream supermarkets.” And it is into the mainstream that Hahn sees the company headed. “The supermarket business is very competitive,” he said. “You often have very similar stores in one small area that are heavily competing for the same customers, who would like to do so without getting locked into a death spiral of ever-lower prices. So for a store in that situation, offering a ‘Halal Section’ is a way to attract a whole new segment of customers without sacrificing margin.” “And those are customers who then do ALL their shopping at that store, not just their Halal shopping,” added Hahn. “That means a lot of added sales for the store that go straight to the bottom line.” “Right. And when it comes to stocking a ‘Halal Section,’ Al Safa is one stop shopping,” said Hahn. “We can supply an entire freezer door of Halal products on our own. There’s no other company outside of the Middle East that can say that.” Is there more room for growth? The Al Safa team certainly thinks so. “We’re fully convinced that Halal is the next big supermarket ‘niche,’ says Hahn. “First came kosher – twenty years ago, you could only buy kosher food at kosher specialty stores. Today there’s kosher food in every supermarket. Then came organic. Five or ten years ago, organic products were only available at health food stores. Today, Amy’s Kitchen has frozen organic convenience items in every supermarket. As far as we’re concerned, Halal is next. And when it comes to frozen convenience products, Al Safa is Halal.”




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