Representatives of the Meshihat Islamic religious community visit Podravka

The representatives of the Islamic religious community headed by the Mufti Mr. Ševko ef. Omerbašić, President of the Meshihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia, accompanied by the President of the Islamic Community in Croatia Mirsad Srebreniković and the member of the Islamic Community Smajo Tataragić visited Podravka today. They were welcomed by the member of the Podravka Board Dragan Habdija and Director of Podravka’s meat industry Slavica Kolesar. At the meeting they discussed the implementation of cooperation so far and the ways of launching Podravka products on the markets which have not been sufficiently targeted until now and which have specific requirements in the production of products for people of Islamic religion.

“The Islamic religious community in Croatia sees Podravka as a partner with which we have always had successful cooperation. We have absolute trust in their production according to our requirements. That is why we wish to strengthen this cooperation and to help as much as we can with the penetration of Podravka to the markets where consumers are mainly of Islamic religion,” said Ševko ef. Omerbašić.

The cooperation of the Podravka meat industry with the Islamic religious community in Croatia dates back to the 1980s. This year Podravka’s meat industry signed a contract with the Islamic religious community on the control of production and issuing of the HALAL certificate for part of Podravka’s products. The HALAL certificate was awarded to Podravka at the beginning of this year to indicate that production processes and products are harmonised with the food standards of people of Islamic faith. The certificate was handed to Podravka by the members of the Meshihat of the Islamic religious community in Croatia which is authorised to issue it in the area of Croatia. The first deliveries of the products, Beef Goulash and Chicken Spread, with the sign HALAL aimed at the Islamic community in the markets of Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, have already been exported and it is expected that cooperation will soon be established in some other European countries as well.