Obtaining halal certification in the culinary business requires an intense struggle and commitment from the owner and all levels. Sevenpine Kitchen Bogor has experienced this in pursuing the target of halal certification.
Sevenpine is a restaurant and cafe in South Bogor, on Jalan Jagakarsa, Tamansari Bogor Selatan. As is known, the Tamansari Bogor Selatan area is known as a natural tourism area and cafe that offers a calm and beautiful natural feel.
Among the many cafes and restaurants in the South Bogor area, Sevenpine Kitchen Cafe and Restaurant is the only one that has obtained a halal certificate. Fitri Fuzawati, Coordinator of Internal Halal Auditor (KAHI) Sevenpine Kitchen, explained that her party first took care of the halal certificate on January 16, 2024, and obtained the halal certificate determination on March 14, 2024.
The determination to take care of the halal certificate was based on the many questions from customers regarding the halalness of the food and beverage menu served at Sevenpine. Responding to these customer questions, R. Ridwan Iskandar, the restaurant owner and devout Muslim, felt increasingly moved to immediately take care of the halal certificate in order to provide comfort for all customers, especially Muslim customers.
“In addition, another reason that underlies our taking care of halal certification is to increase customer trust and add value to Sevenpine Kitchen, because in the area around Tamansari there are not many cafes with a natural concept that have halal certificates,” said Fitri.
Fitri admitted that when she first wanted to obtain the halal certificate, she was a little concerned that the process would be quite time-consuming, complicated, and expensive. The concern was based on information she had previously obtained that many cafes and restaurants had not yet obtained the halal certification due to the complex process and stages.
After registering for the halal certification process, Fitri’s concerns were not entirely wrong. Several things must be prepared, both related to team readiness and raw material suppliers. Yesterday, the main challenge during the halal certification process was getting used to and implementing the Halal Product Assurance System (SJPH) into the cafe’s daily operational activities.
Employees, said Fitri, must also implement new Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) related to halal. Another challenge is finding suppliers of raw materials for critical products such as meat and dairy-based products that must meet halal criteria. Collecting supporting documents for materials from local MSME consignment products whose products are not yet certified is also a challenge in itself.
However, because of the strong determination, especially from the owner, to immediately obtain a halal certificate, these challenges must be faced. How? “From the halal certification process stage until completion, we consult and follow the directions given by the Halal Inspection Body (LPH) LPPOM team,” said Fitri.
Sevenpine Kitchen also routinely socializes and trains SJPH to all employees so that they are accustomed to the new system and SOP related to halal. It is also looking for several alternative raw materials to be registered with LPH LPPOM, actively communicating with LPH LPPOM regarding recommendations for several raw materials that do not yet meet halal criteria, and assisting MSMEs that do not yet have halal certificates to create standard formulas, flow diagrams of the production process, and certificates of freedom from pork/animal ingredients.
Fitri added that by following each direction properly, we can change our view from seeing this halal product assurance system as complicated and difficult to easier and increase the awareness of all stakeholders and employees that the implementation of SJPH is done for the common good. With the attitude of the owner and all staff of Sevenpine Kitchen, who are quite open, the halal certification process runs smoothly. (***)
