Prime Group Vice Chairman Salah Ameen (center) presents the halal certification to Raul Nazareno of Purefoods Hormel Co. At right is Jackson Lumaban also of Prefoods Hormel.   By Madelaine B. Miraflor The facility that manufactures leading food brands Tender Juicy Chicken Franks and Purefoods Corned Beef has obtained a halal certification from Prime Group, a leading quality and compliance solutions provider in Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. This will allow Pure Foods Hormel Company, Inc., a unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., to export the aforementioned products to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and other international markets. The collaboration between Prime Group and Pure Foods came at a time that the global halal food market is expected to grow to US$922.53 billion by 2026, based on a study by Polaris Market Research. The growth is attributed to an increasing Muslim population worldwide and heightened demand even from non-Muslim consumers, coupled with development in retail sector supply chain. This has prompted leading market players to secure halal certification for their products and obtain access to a wider consumer base. "Consumers today are now demonstrating a shift in eating and shopping habits. There is now increased consumer awareness about the nutritional benefits of halal-certified food products. We are delighted to support Pure-foods-Hormel by conducting the necessary inspections, assessments and halal certification to enable them to export their highly loved Philippine products to a wider audience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its neighboring countries," said Salah Ameen, vice chairman at Prime Group, said. Under Prime Group's business entity, Prime Certification & Inspection, a series of assessments on a facility of The Pure-foods-Hormel Company, Inc. were done on the production of Purefoods® Corned Beef and Tender Juicy® Chicken Franks. As a result, Prime Certification & Inspection found the company in compliance with the requirements needed to acquire halal certification. "We remain confident that this partnership with Prime Group will play a major part in our continuing efforts to expand into the UAE and the greater Middle East market," Raul Nazareno, representing the management of Pure-foods Hormel, said. "Carrying halal certification assures our long- and first-time consumers that the products we offer are in compliance with strict regulatory standards. This helps us live up to our promise of products and services of uncompromising quality, great taste and value, which are easily within their reach," he added.