Co-Op Islami shares 'Best Practices' with fellow Dubai Quality Award winners

The participating companies were invited to share with the group their strategies and procedures in the particular segment that won them the recognition. This workshop was held in the Grand Hyatt, Dubai, and was attended by over 600 representatives of the latest winners and interested members of the business community.

Saleh Abdullah Lootah, Assistant General Manager- Operations, Co-Op Islami, presented the methodology of the UAE-based food giant. "The company has undergone major development since it was established by Haj Saeed Lootah. He is recognized as a pioneer of the Islamic way of doing business, which forms the core of Co-Op Islami's business philosophy. For more than two decades, Co-Op Islami has provided real Halal food to consumers across the region and the world, while maintaining the highest standards of quality", he said.

"Our recent shift in leadership responsibilities was in keeping with our strategy, and mainly with the vision of the organization. We implemented the vision through our mission of real Halal products and with a view to high quality. We consider our people as our greatest investment, and we have ongoing training programmes, attracting and hiring well-educated and experienced people and conducting regular motivational exercises."

Mr. Lootah continued, "Our practice of adhering to our own strict quality measures, which is one of our strengths, has vastly enhanced and increased the trust placed in us by our partners and our ultimate consumers. We see this as a milestone achievement in our vision of having greater market share locally, regionally and internationally."

Co-Op Islami has a considerable presence in the local and regional markets, despite competition from international food companies. As the GCC region has developed from being a purely consumer market to one where manufacturing takes place, there is a shift in consumer preference. Co-Op Islami has a whole range of products that are based on Islamic principles and are also uniquely geared towards the resident of the region. Incidentally, Co-Op Islami is the first food company to have won the Dubai Quality Award since the inception of the award ten years ago.

Co-op Islami was set up by Dubai Cooperative Society in 1981 to provide genuine halal meat products as per Islamic methods. Chickens remain the biggest element of the Co-Op Islami product range from whole frozen chickens to pieces and nuggets. The chickens that are sold by Co-Op Islami are also raised by using 100 per cent natural grain feed while most other chicken farms use animal feed.

Co-op Islami ensures its chickens are slaughtered in the traditional Islamic method by hand, using a sharp knife without stunning in contrast to most other producers who slaughter their chicken using electric knives that cut the chicken at random.

The company's commitment to quality was recognised when it became the only factory in the UAE to achieve HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) certification in 2001 following on from the award of ISO 9001 and other certifications.