News

Fish & Co & Delifrance Are No Longer Halal Certified as of Now

Zhi Hao

2018-08-08 , 12:52 pm

To my dear Muslim friends (as well as my close pal Syafiq), I’m afraid that I’ve some pretty bad news for you guys…

No, Osama’s not back.

And no, Obama’s not actually Osama’s brother. I think.

Rather, the bad news is that…

You might not be able to dine at Fish & Co. and Delifrance in the near future.

Yeah, I know. A real shocker.

Halal Certification

According to old-time local newspaper The New Paper, food chains Fish & Co and Delifrance Singapore have “lost their halal certifications”, after “failing to renew them this year”.

Fish & Co’s certification, for one, expired in March, while Delifrance’s expired in June.

Fish & Co

An Islamic Religious Council of Singapore spokesman has expressed that Fish & Co’s 12 outlets have in actuality, not been halal certified since 1 April, despite an earlier renewal application in February. The rejection was apparently because the application failed to meet Muis’ Halal Certification Conditions.

“As of now, we have yet to receive any new halal applications from them,” he said.

However, in a Facebook post last Wednesday (1 Aug), Fish & Co stated it was still following Muis’ halal standards.

Image: Fish & Co. Singapore Facebook Page

Transcript (in case you can’t read):

“Dear valued Fish and Co. patrons

Thank you for your enquiries on the status of the Halal certification of Fish and Co.

Firstly, let us assure you that all our restaurants are complying with Halal standards set by Muis.

At present, our Halal certification consultant (HalalHub) is sorting out matters of the Halal certification renewal with Muis, and are having ongoing consultations with them.

Meanwhile, we would like to reassure our valued Muslim customers that we are fully complying with Halal standards as our consultant works together with Muis to renew our Halal certification.

We deeply apologise for any inconvenience caused, and we look forward to your continual support and patronage of Fish and Co.”

Delifrance

Incidentally, the Muis spokesman also confirmed that Delifrance Singapore was facing the same dilemma.

“Delifrance certificates had expired on June 30. To date, we have yet to receive any new halal applications from them,” he added.

In response, the general manager of Delifrance Singapore, Mr Alvin Goo, expressed that the company’s facing such a situation for the first time in 16 years of being halal-certified.

He also mentioned that the company’s currently endeavouring to resolve some technical issues, which are reportedly not “related to food preparation, materials used or presentation”.

“We are taking necessary actions and engaging in active discussions with the relevant authorities as well as working with an expert in the field to resolve them,” he said.

According to TNP, Delifrance’s renewal application was rejected this year because of regulations that require “all related companies with the same name to be verified as halal before they can be certified.”

However, the original France-based company, which markets frozen bakery products here as Delifrance Singapore Wholesale, does not follow Delifrance Singapore’s halal policies.

Mr Goo said: “The complexity of the technical issues will take time to be resolved.

“We assure our customers that we would never, in any circumstance, use or sell any non-halal products in our outlets.”

Don’t worry

With all things said and done, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before these two food chains get their train back on the halal track. So chill, my dear Muslim friends; you’ll not have to abstain from Fish & Co or Delifrance for the rest of your stay here.

Which is surely unimaginable, I’m sure.

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