Japanese company, Dkay Ventures sign agreement to produce halal dumpling

Tokachiseika's President Hiroyuki Komano said under the agreement, the halal gyoza would be produced by Dkay Ventures and is expected to be marketed in August this year to Japanese restaurants in Malaysia and Japan.

"We met with Dkay Ventures at the Kedah Halal Fest in October 2016 where a business matching session was conducted under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Partnership Programme.

"Test marketing was carried out during the recent Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) in April and we received a good review for both grilled gyoza (yaki-gyoza) and boiled gyoza (sui-gyoza).

"Thus, we came to this agreement where the gyoza production is meant for Muslims," Komano told reporters after the agreement signing ceremony here, today.

The agreement was made possible following JICA's "Project for Industrial Advancement and Promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by Regional Branding through Food Valley Tokachi and Halal Correspondence" programme implemented by the Obihiro Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Komano said the product, to be branded under the name of Hokkaido Tokachi Seika, is also aimed at restaurants in Singapore and Indonesia.

On whether Tokachiseika would set up a gyoza production plant in Japan, he said it was better for it to be produced in Malaysia where halal ingredients are easy to source.

"As local halal chicken meat cannot be air flown to Japan, we find it more convenient to produce the dumpling here (in Malaysia) and market it in Japan and other countries," he added.

Besides halal gyoza, the company has also commercialised the halal daifuku (rice cake) in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Dkay Ventures Director Datin Khairiyah Abu Hassan said the collaboration would allow technology transfer from Japan, as well as an opportunity to learn the efficiency of the Japanese business.

"Gyoza is a famous food in Japan and this has great potential for the Muslim market there.

"With this agreement, we can produce about 2,000 pieces of gyoza in one hour and as the marketing progresses, increase our production accordingly," she added.