Halal awareness on the halal certification among entrepreneurs in Malaysia / Sofuwan Ahmadun and Mohamad Khairul Izwan Rifin

Business owners must understand and implement halal awareness. Halal refers to food products and services that are approved by Islamic law. The term "halal" originates from an Arabic phrase that means allowed or permitted by Islamic law. As the Muslim population grows, so does the demand for halal food, drinks, and other products. This presents a unique opportunity for halal-compliant businesses to capitalize on this
expanding market. In recent years, the growth of Tawau has made it the third-largest city in Sabah. There are many new entrepreneurs in the food industry, but only a small fraction of them are halal-certified. This suggests that people still do not place high importance on halal certification and that halal awareness is at a low level. Food industry professionals and business owners in Tawau have expressed a significant lack of interest in pursuing halal certification, despite their familiarity with the concept. The objectives of this research are to identify entrepreneurs' awareness of the halal logo in Tawau, Sabah. Four companies in Tawau, Sabah, participated in semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that all the companies interviewed have a high level of awareness of halal certification. The informants are able to distinguish between halal ingredients and those that are not. The findings also indicate that although they have a favourable opinion of halal certification, they struggle to obtain it due to insufficient understanding of the application process.