Sarawak Economic Development Corporation

KUCHING: Entrepreneurs engaged in food products have been told to emphasize high standard of hygiene in their production line.

Giving the advice, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chairman Datuk Talib Zulpilip said tourists would go only for hygienic products and that any sign to the contrary could cause producers and manufacturers heavy losses.

This also applied to makers of ‘kek lapis’ (layered cakes), he said, adding: “If your products are not hygienic, foreign tourists who come all the way from various countries like Japan will not want to buy ‘kek lapis’ regardless of how tasty it is.

Talib said if layered cake entrepreneurs must go all out to attract more foreign tourists into buying their products as souvenirs, they should be able to attract tourists to the fact that their products had undergone stringent health procedures.

“It is thus imperative that our ‘kek lapis’ must offer certain level of confidence to tourists who focus much on product standard and quality,” he said when opening a workshop for ‘kek lapis’ entrepreneurs at Dewan Utama, Sarawak Industry Promotion and Exhibition Centre (SIPEC) at Jalan P Ramlee here yesterday.

Talib, who is Jepak assemblyman, pointed out that if they could apply and attain the Product and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification, it would help better promote ‘kek lapis’ Sarawak to all.

“As we all know ISO and HACCP are globally recognised and with such certifications, foreign tourists will be more confident in buying our products,” he said.

While advising entrepreneurs to be wary in setting selling prices, he said they should also pay due attention to consistent supply of their products.

“We must offer competitive prices and ‘kek lapis’ providers must make sure that the supply is consistent and delivery can be made on time. There is no way for them to say that they could supply 20 pieces of ‘kek lapis’ this week and the following week, there is no production at all,” he said, adding that consistency was part of quality assurance.

He hoped ‘kek lapis’ entrepreneurs would strive to make such product as popular as ‘belacan’ and ‘ikan terubok’, which travellers would not want to miss.

Organised by SEDC with the joint effort of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) and Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), the one-day workshop attracted more than 50 participants.

Taken From:

The Borneo Post Online
29/05/2008