A well-known water filtration company, Waterco has just received its Halal Certification from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia after a tedious auditing process on its products and manufacturing management systems.
This strategic move was in line with the company’s goals to not only ensure its variety of products and services are more accessible but that the quality received in both segments will always exceed expectations – ensuring its users will constantly have high-performing and safe products that constantly meet market expectations.
So, why go through all the trouble for the certification even though it’s just equipment for water filtering? According to Koo Zao Cheong the Regional Business Development Manager “After careful research and studies of the market, we are confident that with this certification, it will be beneficial for the business growth and more importantly for our current and prospective consumers, leading us to be one step closer in providing the nation with a safe and healthy water environment needed for the daily necessities be it for commercial or personal usage.”
The benefits surely outweigh the trouble, so how was the process and how long did it take? The company started the process of obtaining the certification in early December 2020. It had established an internal Halal committee to fulfill the stringent requirement and set up the internal Halal assurance system (HAS), which acted as the backbone of its standard operations. This guidance ensured all Halal requirements were incorporated as part of their operations which was later audited by the Halal Certification body, Jabatan Agama Islam Negeri Selangor (JAIS), and JAKIM. Both JAIS and JAKIM carried out a thorough examination and audit to verify the origins of the raw materials, sourcing channels, and presence of MSDS/ CSDS, HACCP, and GMP.
According to Mr Koo, despite the obstacles faced and the on-and-off SOPs implemented during the pandemic which lengthened the timeline, this journey is a necessary fulfilment, for Waterco is now able to strengthen its product positioning and widen its range of reach to provide Point-Of-Entry (POE) water filter for residential usage, Halal-dependent processing industries, F&B industries and more.
