By: Shinta Widianti – PR Consultant of Fortune PR
“Indonesia’s Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) recently announced that they pulled the permits of U-Dong and Kimchi flavored instant noodles by Samyang, as well as three other noodles from Korea. The products were claimed non-halal, as the ingredients contain pork. Samyang, as we all know, is actually a popular imported instant noodle in Indonesia, and all were imported by a local company called PT Koin Bumi. Looking at the major Muslim market in Indonesia, the government stated that products containing pork must include a logo as an identification and warning for buyers. If they are being sold in retail stores or supermarkets, they must be displayed separately. This issue has been a major disadvantage for distributors selling products with the halal certificate. As stated by Kompas, one of the company called PT Korinus, a halal Samyang distributor, stated that their sales have dropped to 30% ever since the non-halal claim spread out. In this condition, PR pros can counter the non-halal claim using three steps. The first is to distribute an official statement to the media about the halal certificate available for each product. The second is to engage your audience using Muslim influencers or opinion leaders to represent your brand. The third is to make a social media campaign engaging Muslim buzzers and their target market who are mostly youths and young moms. Overall, we can learn from the prior success of how The Samyang Challenge successfully increased brand awareness and implement it on the next campaign. Also for consumers, you must be wary of spreading rumors about the halal status of halal-certified products and services as this can have a detrimental effect on a company and its employees. Always verify first before sharing.”
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