Halal certification process becomes easier, benefiting businesses

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The convenience of online shopping means consumers are faced with an ever-growing range of products.

Before making a purchase, consumers also consider various details to ensure products meet their needs. Quality and ingredients, information from the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), and halal certification are among the important factors they weigh when shopping.

Businesses are experiencing this directly. In an increasingly competitive market, meeting regulations and providing clear product information are among the ways to build consumer trust.

Halal certification not only protects consumers but can also open up business opportunities.

Ilham Marbini, owner of Nasi Goreng Pulomas, a ShopeeFood merchant, and Riansyah Fikri, founder of Madu Azzura, which sells on Shopee, are examples. After frequently receiving customer questions about whether their products were halal, both decided to apply for halal certification for their businesses.

For Ilham Marbini, maintaining customer trust has been part of the long journey of building Nasi Goreng Pulomas. He began selling food in the Pulomas area of East Jakarta in 1994, before moving his business to Yogyakarta in 2007.

In the city, known as an educational hub, many of his customers are students from other regions. He often receives questions about whether his food is halal, including queries about the meat used in his meatball menu.

“Many customers ask whether the food I sell is halal. I also sell meatballs, so some ask about the meat. Before I had halal certification, I couldn’t show them official proof,” Ilham said.

Although he had received such questions several times, Ilham only had the opportunity to apply for certification in 2024. That opportunity came when Shopee offered to facilitate a halal certification application for his business. With the assistance provided, Ilham went through the application process, from registration and completing the required data and information to the issuance of the certificate.

“When Shopee offered assistance with the halal certification application in 2024, I felt it was a great help. ShopeeFood guided me from registration and filling in the information through to the certificate being issued,” he said.

Ilham now feels more at ease running his business because he can assure customers that his products are halal. He sees the certification as part of his responsibilities as a food and beverage business owner.

Riansyah Fikri established Madu Azzura in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. By offering a range of distinctive honey flavours, he sought to reach consumers with different preferences.

As his business developed, he often received questions about whether Madu Azzura’s products were halal. These questions prompted him to apply for certification so he could provide customers with clearer assurance.

At first, he imagined the application process would be complicated and expensive. But after researching the process and going through it, he learned that halal certification support was available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), making the process easier and more affordable.

The certification process also gave him the opportunity to review the business more thoroughly, from ingredients to production. “During the halal certification process, we reviewed the ingredients used and the production process from start to finish. For me, this was also an opportunity to evaluate our operations and supply chain, and ensure the process complied with halal requirements,” Fikri said.

From this experience, Fikri sees halal certification as part of a business’s responsibility to provide consumers with clear information. This assurance helps address customer needs while protecting the trust the business has built.

“Thankfully, after we obtained halal certification, customers became more confident and more certain about buying our products. For us, that trust is the most important thing to maintain,” he said.

In addition to providing consumers with assurance, halal certification is part of regulatory compliance. Under Law No. 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Assurance and Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024, halal certification will become mandatory from October 2026.

To help businesses meet this requirement, Shopee is working with the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) to facilitate halal certification applications for Shopee sellers and ShopeeFood merchants. Under the programme, eligible businesses can use a facilitation code from Shopee to apply for certification in accordance with the applicable requirements.

Shopee sellers can apply through the Halal Certification Management feature, which is integrated with BPJPH’s SIHALAL system. ShopeeFood merchants can find application information on a dedicated halal certification programme page.

Shopee sellers and ShopeeFood merchants wishing to take part can review the requirements, prepare the necessary documents, then follow the application steps and enter the facilitation code as instructed.

Through this programme, Shopee is helping MSMEs take steps to meet halal certification requirements, improve the shopping experience and maintain customer trust in the products they offer.