Int. J.

Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Int. J. Production Economics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe

Sustainable food production: Insights of Malaysian halal small

and medium sized enterprises
Mohd Helmi Ali a,n, Norhidayah Suleiman b
a
School of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
b
Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate the relationships and links between standard food
Received 1 September 2015 production practices and the principles of sustainable production. As part of the study, several ex-
Received in revised form planatory frameworks are explored and discussed. Interviews with industry experts and a survey cov-
1 June 2016
ering more than 600 Malaysian SMEs producing halal foods were commissioned. The results provide in-
Accepted 3 June 2016
depth insights into sustainable food production practices. The findings of this study are intended to be
Available online 6 June 2016
used: (a) to assist an understanding of the synergies between standard production practices and sus-
Keywords: tainable production principles; (b) to clarify whether halal food production is capturing aspects of sus-
Sustainable production tainable development; and (c) to identify opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises to
Halal food
venture into sustainable initiatives at minimal cost. Additionally, the investigation provides evidence that
Small and medium sized enterprises
compliance with environmental standards can go hand in hand with the meeting of other sets of pro-
duction standards.
& 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction daunting task. In consequence, in the increasing number of re-

Little research has been done on sustainable production in the
food industry. The manifesto for organic farming was arguably first
set out in the 1940s, in the book Look at the Land, by Walter James,
who discussed chemical farming as an environmental concern
(Paull, 2014). Since then, the importance of sustainable perfor-
mance in the food industry has garnered some attention (O’Brien,
1999). In the 1980s, the Brundtland Commission defined sustain-
able development as “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs”, and stated that it had to incorporate and
balance environmental, social, and economic objectives (Krajnc
and Glavic, 2003).
Bhaskaran et al. (2006) elevated this connection onto a new
level and argued that a genuinely holistic sustainable production
program had not been attempted anywhere in the world, due to
the high costs (e.g. in meeting environmental standards), when
the chief objective of a firm is economic rather than environ-
mental. Moreover, sustainable food and agriculture are complex
issues (Gorp and Goot, 2012). The multi-dimensional nature of
sustainability makes analysis of a firm's environmental initiatives a
n
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mohdhelmiali@ukm.edu.my (M.H. Ali),
su_hidayah@food.upm.edu.my (N. Suleiman).
search studies in this area, a seemingly limitless variety of in-
dicators have been used to measure sustainability (Linton et al.,
2007). In addition, the definitions of sustainability have been va-
gue and the associated terminologies have varied widely. Even
within the food industry itself, food labeling uses a wide range of
terms to denote sustainable production, such as organic, green,
eco-friendly, and environmentally friendly. These definitions are
interchangeable and hence confuse both consumers and actors
along the value-chain (Bhaskaran et al., 2006).
Notwithstanding this lack of consistency and consensus, there
are common elements to sustainable production within the food
industry: the product should be healthy to consume; any negative
environmental effects should be minimized; fewer chemicals
should be used; greater concern for both food safety and the en-
vironment should be evident; consistently high standards of ani-
mal rearing should be implemented, in relation to both health and
welfare; and employees should be able to achieve better liveli-
hoods than those employed in conventional food industries (Ca-
pone et al., 2014; Elkington et al., 1990; Magkos et al., 2006; Rezai
et al., 2013).
Even within the specialist literature on sustainable food pro-
duction there are few practical examples of how managers can
actually achieve sustainability in current production practices. Due
to increasing resource constraints, managers generally have to aim
to integrate sustainable production into their existing practice. The
concern of the managers then is how current production practices

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.06.003
0925-5273/& 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
304 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
might be transformed into sustainable production. In other words,
how can food be produced sustainably without large investment
or extensive change to mainstream production?
This paper aims to address these shortcomings by extending
the work of Spangenberg et al. (2010). The design for sustainability
(DfS) approach was proposed by Spangenberg et al. (2010) in the
context of the food industry, which provided guidelines for man-
agers seeking to transform their current production techniques to
make them sustainable. It reports a study on the sustainable
production of halal foods by small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs). In a nutshell, the study aims: (a) to evaluate standard
manufacturing practice in relation to the objectives of sustainable
consumption; and (b) to investigate the suitability of current
manufacturing practice and the potential for sustainable produc-
tion specifically in the context of SMEs and halal food.
This research will provide evidence on the indirect im-
plementation of sustainable production by SMEs through standard
production practices. However, the study does not cover the
technical details of sustainable production per se. The information
gathered from the literature can be used to understand sustain-
ability within the food industry. Moreover, the paper discusses the
importance of SMEs in the food industry and identifies the pro-
blems they face in implementing sustainable production.
In Section 2 reviews the literature on sustainable production of
food and its implementation by SMEs. Section 3 describes the
methodologies used in the present study on sustainable produc-
tion by SMEs in the halal food industry. Section 4 presents the
results of that study, and Section 5 discusses the implications of
these results. Section 6 concludes with a summary of the findings,
implications, limitations, and potential topics for future research.
2. Sustainable food production
The concept of sustainable production emerged at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 as
one of the key components of sustainable development. Re-
searchers have defined sustainable production in various ways.
One of the most popular definitions of sustainable production was
provided by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (1998)
(LCSP). It did so in the following terms: (1) the creation of goods
and services by using processes and systems that are non-pollut-
ing; (2) the conservation of energy and natural resources;
(3) economic viability; (4) safe and healthful for employees,
communities and consumers; and (5) socially and creatively re-
warding for all the people involved (Glavič and Lukman, 2007;
Tseng et al., 2009). O’Brien (1999) suggested that sustainable
production had to see the development of manufacturing in-
dustry’s ability to meet society's needs, not only to create wealth.
White (2001) argued that the investigation of sustainable pro-
duction requires an understanding of both the social and the
economic aspects of consumption.
In the food sector, consumers are now demanding more
stringent quality control. They are concerned not only about price
and convenience but also about food safety and healthy food.
Importance is also given to sustainability and ethical issues, which
include animal rights and the environmental friendliness of the
food that is being consumed (Reisch et al., 2013; Vermeir and
Verbeke, 2006; Wahlen et al., 2012). Partly as a consequence of
this breadth of coverage, many terms are used in the literature in
relation to sustainable production.
A number of authors have investigated various aspects of sus-
tainable food production. Bhaskaran et al. (2006) explored how
consumers and value-chain intermediaries in Australia responded
to food production that conformed to environmental standards
and confirmed that the number of consumers demanding
sustainable food is starting to increase at a slow rate. However, the
authors conceded that a firm was still unlikely to adopt environ-
mental standards due to the low overall consumer demand and
the high cost of compliance with those standards. Moreover, they
also report that the myriad of terminologies in food production
was confusing for both consumers and value-chain intermediaries
(Bhaskaran et al., 2006).
Pullman et al. (2009) expanded the view on sustainability by
adding social elements to the environmental aspects in their
analysis of the performance of the food industry. They depicted
the causal relationships between environmental and social sus-
tainable practices, and the associated quality and cost perfor-
mance. Despite the lack of a relationship between sustainable
practice and cost performance, a direct effect of sustainable
practices on quality performance was detected. They also sug-
gested that the integration of sustainability and quality programs
within an enterprise may enhance performance. If these programs
were not integrated, the benefits from the sustainability program
were weakened.
Ilbery and Maye (2005) explored the economic impact of im-
plementing a sustainable food supply chain by assessing a number
of ‘speciality’ food supply chains operated by small rural en-
terprises around the border between England and Scotland. The
authors' interest was in shorter supply chains and fewer ‘food
miles’. However, they concluded that even though these en-
terprises had more control over their supply chains, it doesn't
necessarily lead to sustainability, because of the economic im-
peratives. The authors argued that without a bigger economic
drive, for instance public procurement and co-operative/commu-
nity food schemes for the niche market, the widespread im-
plementation of sustainable production was not imminent.
In their study of these economic imperatives and niche mar-
kets, Rezai et al. (2015) explored sustainable production in the
halal food industry. This can be seen as a niche market for Muslims
but extended to a global scale. The authors similarly saw the
economics to be the important driver for consumers in this seg-
ment of the food market, perhaps despite the expectation that
halal food production would anyway cover elements of hygiene,
food safety, environmental friendliness, organic production, ani-
mal welfare, and fair trade.
Browne et al. (2000) claimed that the motivation for consumers
to select organic produce largely related to health and the en-
vironment, rather than social issues. Those authors further defined
ethical trading according to criteria in four areas: (i) workers'
salary and a range of rights and conditions, which include health
and safety, non-exploitative and non-discriminatory labor prac-
tices for men, women and children, and effective monitoring and
auditing procedures; (ii) improving livelihoods through fair prices
and a commitment to social development; (iii) sustainable pro-
duction methods that favor the environment and development;
and (iv) animal welfare. Browne et al. concluded that organic
production can be ethical when the social criteria combine with
the standards of the authorities regulating the organic food
industry.
2.1. SMEs and the implementation of sustainable supply chains
SMEs play important roles in shaping the food industry's social
and environmental impacts (Bourlakis et al., 2014; Ilbery and
Maye, 2005; Lee et al., 2012). Given this, sustainable practice on
the part of SMEs may support the environmental, social and eco-
nomic development of low-income countries in particular. Despite
increased demands for products (food) that have sustainably
produced, the literature has highlighted that most SMEs have not
yet been convinced to green their practices (Bhaskaran et al.,
2006; Hassini et al., 2012). The barriers to the implementation of
 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
sustainable practices are higher costs, the coordination effort and
complexity, and insufficient communication within supply chains
(Seuring and Müller, 2008). These barriers were experienced by
SMEs that had limited resources and yet were expected to meet
environmental sustainable standards that tend to be complicated
and expensive to implement (Bhaskaran et al., 2006). For example,
the implementation of a lean supply chain (LSC) as the catalyst for
greening the firm’s production through waste reduction was often
beyond the financial ability of SMEs (Achanga et al., 2006; Dües
et al., 2013).
Moreover, the food industry has to comply with many sets of
standards (voluntary and quasi voluntary as well as statutory), and
the net effect on the quality, cost, and competitiveness needs to be
addressed before an SME can readily commit to them (Caswell
et al., 1998). Since sustainability standards are mostly voluntary
and do not tend to provide an immediate benefit to the firm (i.e.
profit, return of investment), sustainable food production has been
implemented to a rather limited degree (Bhaskaran et al., 2006).
Despite the suggestion that sustainable production can improve a
firm's financial performance if the necessary marketing is under-
taken (Magkos et al., 2006; Manuela et al., 2013; Vermeir and
Verbeke, 2006), the empirical evidence for this is lacking. Thus, a
firm with restricted resources is unlikely to comply with sustain-
ability programs, namely environmental (e.g. ISO14000) and social
(SA8000) programs (Bhaskaran et al., 2006).
Beyond the issue of compliance of the standards, a set of
meaningful and simple indicators for sustainable production is
applicable to SMEs (Veleva and Ellenbecker, 2001). According to
Krajnc and Glavic (2003) and Veleva and Ellenbecker (2001), such
indicators for sustainable production should (a) reflect the concept
of sustainability; (b) be applicable to the firm; (c) be implemented
simply and easily; (d) not be too many in number; (e) cover key
global issues (e.g. poverty, animal welfare, food security); and
(f) provide the firm with a new metrics and guidance on how to
measure their advance toward sustainable production.
3. Methodology
This study is both exploratory and confirmatory. The research
seeks to develop novel insights and valid indicators of sustainable
production in halal food production by interviewing the practi-
tioners. It applies well-established tools and techniques to ascer-
tain how sustainable production may be achieved by the SMEs
through the use of hypotheses testing of the relationship between
halal food production achieved through standard practices and
through practices that would meet the criteria for sustainability
set out by the LCSP (see above). As highlighted by Jick (1979),
qualitative data provide the understanding that is needed in the
development of theory, whilst the quantitative data enable the
testing of hypotheses and allow for generalizability. Therefore, the
study used a mixed methodology, with semi-structured interviews
followed by surveys, as done in previous research (e.g. Menor and
Roth, 2007; Sale et al., 2002; Bourlakis et al., 2014; Losonci et al.,
2011).
3.1. Sample
The sustainability research has been rather simple and mostly
one dimensional, for example looking solely at environmentally
factors (Seuring and Müller, 2008). Although some researchers
have attempted to combine the social and economic elements
with an environmental perspective (i.e. Pullman et al., 2009;
Browne et al., 2000), their findings have been inconclusive.
The present study focuses on the halal food. Halal food is
prepared and consumed by Muslims according to a set of specific
305
criteria as underlined in the Quran. Despite sometimes being seen
as a niche market segment and inferior to their non-halal coun-
terparts (Rezai et al., 2015), halal food in fact accounts for more
than 17% of global food production (Berry, 2011). Moreover, the
world's Muslim population is increasing, and is expected to double
the global population's average percentage growth rate. Hence, the
global demand for halal food is expected to double from its 2014
value of US$1.292 trillion a year in 2019 (Thomson Reuters and
DinarStandard, 2014).
Halal production criteria ensure the wholesomeness and in-
tegrity of food products, from farm to fork (Ali et al., 2014). These
criteria are determined not only by Islamic-related food law, but
by other Islamic values, relating to hygiene, food safety, equality
and fair trade (Al-Qaradawi, 2001; Baharuddin et al., 2015; Sharaai
and Mahmood, 2012). Moreover, halal production highlights the
importance of each stage of production. In order for a firm to trade
in halal markets, its production requires certification of com-
pliance by a certifying body that will conduct a wide range of in-
spections, of everything from the seeds used in growing crops for
human consumption or as animal feeds, to animal raising, trans-
portation, slaughtering, processing and handling. Seen in this light,
the halal food industry would meet many of the criteria for a
sustainable supply chain, i.e., government, customer, and stake-
holder elements as highlighted by Seuring and Müller (2008).
There are at present 122 active certifying bodies for halal com-
pliance globally, some wholly or partly governmental, others non-
governmental organizations, including local mosques and Islamic
societies (Afifi et al., 2012). The guidelines are commonly enforced
together with other standards, like Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Points (HACCP), Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
The study focuses on Malaysia's halal food industry for three
main reasons. Firstly, halal food is produced in accordance with
specific regulations for Muslims that encompasses social need,
which is a dimension of sustainability. Secondly, Malaysia has a
global reputation for being a frontrunner in promoting halal food
production guidelines (e.g. through Malaysian standard
MS1500:2009, ‘Halal food – production, preparation, handling and
storage – general guidelines’). Finally, the study sample is well
suited to an exploration of sustainable production in the SME
setting (Iranmanesh et al., 2015). According to SME Corp. Malaysia
(2013), SMEs in the food industry are generally defined as firms
with an annual sales turnover not exceeding RM50 million and not
more than 200 full-time workers.
3.2. In-depth interview facilitating questionnaire design
The study used in-depth interviews to gain support for the
survey-based study. Moreover, the interviews were conducted to
provide an overall idea of each section within the halal industry
(Yin, 1994), which mitigates bias in the interpretation of historical
data. Six in-depth case interviews with representatives of SMEs
were conducted to gain sufficient data for insight and under-
standing of the novel concept of sustainability in Malaysia's halal
food industry (Creswell, 2009). Since previous research in the area
of sustainable consumption suggested that the most accurate in-
formation (e.g. Bhaskaran et al., 2006; Giannakis and Papado-
poulos, 2016) was obtained from high-level officers in a firm, the
interviews were with 6 high-level officers from leading organiza-
tions. They were conducted in June and July 2013. As Table 1 in-
dicates, these experts collectively represent all areas of the halal
food industry.
All the interviewees' details were obtained from two main
sources, JAKIM (a Malaysian halal certification body) and the
Malaysian SMECorp. Since this part of the study was exploratory in
nature, stratified sampling was not employed. Usually, SMEs are
306 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
Table 1
Overview of the six in-depth interviews.
Firm Category Interviewees Years in
position
A Food and Beverages Owner 15
B Snacks Factory Manager 13
C Fresh Processed Meat Islamic Relations 4 Manager / Halal executive
Producer Officer
D Fresh Processed Meat Halal Co-ordinator 3 o 200–75
Producer
E Catering Owner 15
F Restaurants General Manager 8 416
‘flat’ organizations; hence the interviews were arranged with an
individual firm's owner or representatives who had a good un-
derstanding of the firm's operations. Prior to the interview, pro-
tocols were established so that all the interviewees were asked
similar questions. Our central questions were formulated around
sustainability in halal food production. Since sustainability is a
wide-ranging concept, a chart outlining two specific elements of
sustainability, namely the Malaysia Standard Halal Food Guide-
lines (MS1500:2009) and the principles of sustainable production
adopted from the LCSP (see Veleva and Ellenbecker, 2001), was
used to facilitate and focus the discussion of sustainability. The
interviews lasted between 45 min and 2 h. During the interview,
the interviewees were permitted to discuss their understanding of
sustainability. Questions on the similarities between sustainability
and halal production were also raised.
The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts
were carefully coded and thematic analysis of the findings was
carried out from the coding. The resulting outcomes were then
used as an input for the surveys. The results were verified by six
expert judges from the industry via the Q-sorting method, and the
outputs of the Q-sort were translated into constructs (Moore and
Benbasat, 1991). From the Q-sort method, it was found that the
content validity was acceptable as the placement score were
greater than 70% (Moore and Benbasat, 1991). Thereafter, the re-
vised questionnaire underwent pilot testing in a small survey (15
respondents) to ensure that the indicators were understandable
and relevant to the practices of SMEs among Malaysia's halal
manufacturers. It is important to note that the feedback from the
pilot test was used to refine some of the questions.
3.3. Data collection with the final questionnaire
The research used a structured questionnaire survey to ex-
amine sustainable halal food production by SMEs. The ques-
tionnaire contained 32 questions in two sections, with responses
on a 7-point Likert scale (1 ¼not at all, 7¼ to a very large extent).
The first section included questions on the six halal production
dimensions derived from the in-depth interviews and the research
adopted and adapted the measurement items of the LCSP. The
second section included questions on the characteristics of the
respondents and firms.
In the early stage of data collection, every firm's halal re-
presentatives were contacted by email (email addresses were ob-
tained from JAKIM's halal directory). However, the response rate
was very low, which demonstrates the inefficiency of the email
method in conducting this type of research. As a solution, the
author contacted the representatives by telephone and explained
the purpose of this study in order to increase the response rate
before sending out the questionnaire (Frohlich, 2002). Survey
questionnaires (n¼ 600) were sent primarily door-to-door through
the regular mail, followed by a telephone call reminder to those
who did not complete the survey after five working days. After an
Table 2
Characteristics of survey respondents.
Demographic Characteristic Percentage of sample
Position of respondents
Owner 30.5
Director 23.5
56.0
Number of Employees in firm
38.3
o 75 61.7
Number of Products offered by the firm
30.3
10–15 9.8
5–9 24.5
1–4 35.3
additional week, another telephone call reminder was made to the
prospective firms.
The data collection phase took place between November 2013
and September 2014, and a total of 102 completed surveys were
returned (a response rate of 17%) (Malhotra and Grover, 1998).
Table 2 summarizes the characteristics of the survey respondents.
4. Results and research findings
4.1. Interview results
The interview process identified many indicators of sustain-
ability. Both broad agreement and controversial opinions during
the discussions were recorded. In the Malaysian context, a firm is
allowed to trade in the halal food markets only after being certified
for compliance with MS1500:2009. Table 3 indicates the em-
beddedness of the LCSP principles in the six firms' production
according to the dimensions of MS1500:2009. Only six of the eight
MS1500 dimensions were found to be associated with the inter-
viewees’ notions of sustainable production. The two MS1500 di-
mensions that the interviewees did not associate with sustainable
production were: devices, utensils, machines, and processing aids;
and legal requirements (which were perceived as being too large
and too vague). These findings corroborate those of Daud et al.
(2011), who also reported that these two dimensions were seen as
the least important. In short, even though MS1500:2009 was not
developed to govern sustainability principles and practices, halal
food production has embraced notions of sustainability.
4.1.1 The embeddedness of sustainable production principles in
MS1500:2009
According to Spangenberg et al. (2010), an in-depth knowledge
of a firm’s own products and comprehensive solutions by all the
stakeholders must be taken into consideration in developing a
design for sustainability. In addition, the full potential of sustain-
able consumption and production must be realized, through both
ethical/sustainable management and suitable political framework
settings. From the results shown in Table 3, halal food production
does meet the criteria for sustainable production. Additionally, the
interviews produced a set of indicators of sustainability (Fig. 1) and
detailed the links between halal food practices and sustainable
performance.
4.2. Operationalization of the constructs
4.2.1. Management responsibilities
The literature has identified that management commitment is
crucial to achieving sustainable production (e.g. Dubey et al., 2016;
Jabbour and Jabbour, 2015). Management responsibilities in
 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314 307

Table 3
Summary of the interview findings (firms A–F).

MS1500:2009 dimensions LCSP1 LCSP2 LCSP3 LCSP4 LCSP5 LCSP6 LCSP7 LCSP8 LCSP9

Management Responsibility A A B, E, and F A

Premises F D and E F A
Storage, transportation, display, sale, and serving of halal A, B and F
food
Hygiene, sanitation and food safety A, B, C, and E
Processing of halal food D and B A and F
Packaging labeling and advertising A, B, C, D, E, and A, B, C, D, E, and F
F

LCSP1: Products and packaging are designed to be safe and ecologically sound throughout their life cycles; services are designed to be safe and ecologically sound.
LCSP2: Waste and ecologically incompatible by-products are continuously reduced, eliminated or recycled.
LCSP3: Energy and materials are conserved, and the forms of energy and materials used are most appropriate for the desired ends.
LCSP4: Chemical substances, physical agents, technologies and work practices that present hazards to human health or the environment are continuously reduced or
eliminated.
LCSP5: Workplaces are designed to minimize or eliminate physical, chemical, biological and ergonomic hazards.
LCSP6: Management is committed to an open, participatory process of continuous evaluation and improvement, focused on the long-term economic performance of the firm.
LCSP7: Work is organized to conserve and enhance the efficiency and creativity of employees.
LCSP8: The security and well-being of all employees is a priority, as is the continuous development of their talents and capacities.
LCSP9: The communities around workplaces are respected and enhanced economically, socially, culturally and physically; equity and fairness are promoted. A, B, D, E, and F:
The six case interview firms.

as an important factors in sustainability, and this was supported in

the present series of interviews. Firm E stated that: “getting (and
maintaining) a Muslim chef (with appropriate certification) as a
permanent employee is a difficult task in this line of business (…),
and it is even harder to handle employees in a supporting role,
who are commonly hired as part-timers. Therefore, we have of-
fered to take on some of the part-timers as permanent employees
on the condition that they obtain certification”. Moreover, the
improvement of the workers' living standards is also required of
by MS1500:2009, although it is challenging to retain workers in
the food industry (Wildes, 2005). This was evidenced by Firm F:
“keeping Muslim workers in the kitchen is a big challenge for us
because the competition is high, especially when there are many
other new outlets within the vicinity that offer a slightly higher
salary (…), therefore we ask our human resource department to
offer a relatively competitive remuneration package (benefits and
salary) to avoid the loss of employees”.
Thus, the items ‘efficient use of human resources’, ‘employee
and participative management’, and ‘improvement of workers’
living standards’ were used in the survey as the indicators to re-
present management responsibility.

Fig. 1. The relationship of halal food standard practices to the LSCP principles.
MS1500:2009 include ensuring the integrity of halal food during
the production process. For example, the MS1500:2009 standard
requires either the appointment of a Muslim halal executive officer
(s) or the establishment of a committee comprising Muslim
members to ensure that all the resources (i.e. manpower, finance
and infrastructure) are sufficient for halal food production. In the
interviews it was apparent that management provided training, as
well as attendance at conferences and short courses, on halal
production. In addition, universities in Malaysia have started to
introduce courses tailored to halal industry as one area of spe-
cialization (Ahmad et al., 2011; Alina et al., 2013; Nain et al., 2013).
Management is clearly investing in ensuring the right person is in
the right position, as stated by Firm B: “we appoint personnel who
have in-depth knowledge of halal food production to lead our
halal committee. They (the halal committee) determine and filter
all decisions and activities in our business (…), and furthermore
we also have well-known Muslim scholars on the committee”.
In parallel, Seuring and Müller (2008) highlighted staff training
4.2.2. Premises
Sustainability depends on the activities that take place within
the premises (Hassini et al., 2012; Hervani et al., 2005). The im-
portance of the premises in supporting the sustainable production
were also highlighted by Manzini and Accorsi (2013), who pro-
posed the eco-factory model as one of the elements of
sustainability.
The interview results show that halal premises embrace the
sustainable production principles in terms of conserving energy
and materials as well as eliminating the items that can be ha-
zardous to human health and environment. For instance, Firm D
highlighted its efforts on energy and material conservation: “we
are also certified and comply with the Hazard Analysis Critical
Control Points (HACCP) certification within our factory (…), where
compliance is not only in detecting any halal issues in the pro-
duction line, but also to avoid other problems and the whole batch
of production will be discarded if any problems occur (which leads
to waste)”. Similarly, efforts to conserve energy were noted by Firm
E: “We provide the majority of promotional menu packages to our
customers (with some add-ons). Since we have multiple orders at
a time, especially during weekends, the package allows us to cook
in bulk. This is easier for us due to lower manpower and gas usage
308 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
and we can organize our service according (…) to the demand”.
The segregation of halal food from non-halal food is vital on the
premises (Ali et al., 2014; Syazwan et al., 2013; Tieman, 2011).
Moreover, halal production eliminates any items that can be ha-
zardous to human health and the environment. Firm F stated: “a
standardized design is applied in all of our outlets (restaurants),
while the design has been changed from time to time after dis-
cussion with our restaurant managers. For example, we organize
the main freezer in key restaurants to suit FIFO (first-in first-out)
practices. After the experimental phase, we applied the practice to
the rest of our restaurants (…) and managed to reduce waste and
expiring products (that are harmful)”.
In a nutshell, ‘halal premises’ refers to a healthy and en-
vironmentally friendly area for food production. Therefore, ‘en-
vironmentally friendly layout’, ‘hygienic facilities’, and ‘prevention
of contamination from hazardous material’ were included as sur-
vey items.
4.2.3. Hygiene, sanitation, and food safety
According to MS1500:2009, hygiene, sanitation, and food safety
are required at all stages of halal food production. Firms are re-
quired to implement five important measures: (i) inspect and sort
all the materials prior to production; (ii) manage waste efficiently;
(iii) keep harmful chemical substances away from the product; (iv)
prevent product contamination from unknown material; and
(v) reduce the permitted food additives. All of these measures
were agreed upon and highlighted by all the interviewees. All of
these efforts are also closely linked with the principles of sus-
tainable production, which prevents hazards to human health and
the environment (Veleva and Ellenbecker, 2001).
Sustainable measures undertaken by local suppliers were
mentioned by Firm C: “we only keep a small number of local
suppliers so that we know the complete details of the source of
the materials (…), which will reduce the possibilities of un-
detected meat and completely avoid the scenario of the horsemeat
scandal that happened in the United Kingdom (…). Since we are a
meat-based product producer, this particular element is important
to reduce any rejection”. By focusing on local suppliers, it is pos-
sible for the firm to conduct proper checks for non-halal materials
prior to production. In addition, halal processes share similar focus
of sustainable measures highlighted by Zhu and Sarkis (2004) on
reducing the consumption of hazardous/harmful/toxic materials.
This sustainable measure was noted by Firm B: “all the emulsifiers
and colorings that we use in production are well below the per-
missible limits and originate from halal sources”. Moreover, good
housekeeping is carried out to ensure that the food products are
free from hazards to human health and the environment. Ac-
cording to Firm E: “5S strategies are the best for us (other strate-
gies are difficult to implement), because they clearly label what
belongs where. It also improves cleanliness and production will
not be interfered with by unwanted elements that may affect the
halal status of toyibban (wholesomeness)”.
MS1500:2009 insists on the waste reduction, which matches one
element of sustainability, as highlighted by Dües et al. (2013). Waste
reduction was noted by Firm A: “our by-products are usually utilized
as livestock feeds (…) and we have a customer for this particular
product”. Following this argument, the constructs of hygiene, sani-
tation and food safety were represented by the following items:
‘contracts with local suppliers’, ‘material balance audits’, ‘quantity of
non-product output returned to process or marketed by recycling or
reuse’, ‘procedures to prevent or minimize potentially adverse im-
pacts on products’, and ‘cooperative management’.
4.2.4. Processing of halal food
Implementation of sustainable production requires a careful
understanding of both the industry and the product characteristics
(Tseng et al., 2013; Veleva and Ellenbecker, 2001). Manufacturers
in the food industry must identify suitable sustainable production
methods in order to meet consumers’ expectations (Trienekens
et al., 2008).
The wholesomeness of halal food is an important determinant
of consumption patterns (Ali et al., 2014; Bonne et al., 2007; Zul-
fakar et al., 2014). The processing of halal food differs from con-
ventional food production. In essence, halal food production de-
pends on four additional requirements. First, neither the food nor
the ingredients should originate from non-halal animals or from
halal animals that are not slaughtered according to Islamic law.
Second, the slaughtering should consider the animal's welfare
according to Islamic law. Third, no process can be contaminated by
‘filth’. The final requirement is that the processed food and its
ingredients should be: safe for consumption, non-poisonous, non-
intoxicating and non-hazardous to health.
Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) claims that sustainable food pro-
duction needs to be targeted according to the consumption pat-
tern. From the interviews, the links between the sustainability
notion of meeting customer expectations and halal processing was
evident, especially in the context of social impacts on cultural
(Muslim dietary) tradition, nutrition and health, and animal wel-
fare (FAO, 2014). As highlighted by Firm B: “for Muslims, selecting
food that they believe is healthy is important, although not as
important as it being halal (…)”. Therefore, the wholesomeness of
halal food process is an important criterion that also relates to
sustainability; the products need to be physically and spiritually
safe for consumption and to meet the customer expectations. In
other words, the origin of the product and its ingredients is a vital
factor. This was agreed by Firm F: “all of our ingredients are being
produced in-house from the raw materials (…) except for some
natural products such as eggs, sugar and meat. The materials are
preferentially sourced from local halal-certified vendors, especially
the meat-based products”.
The method of slaughter is critical in halal processing. Halal
slaughtering processes have been linked in the literature to greater
animal welfare (e.g. Lever and Miele, 2012; Tieman and Hassan,
2015). It was highlighted by Firm D: “working closely with farmers
combined with HACCP certification allows us to monitor the
breeding and slaughtering process meticulously”. Apart from that,
all devices, utensils and processing aids that are involved in halal
production are required to be filth-free. In order to achieve filth-
free conditions, MS1500:2009 does not allow non-halal foods to
be produced alongside halal foods. Additionally, a production line
must be designed to facilitate cleaning in the event of con-
tamination. Seen from this light, the processing of halal food is
represented by the sustainability items ‘meeting customer ex-
pectation’, ‘animal welfare’, ‘decrease the consumption of non-
halal materials’, and ‘cleaning processes’.
4.2.5. Storage, transportation, display, sale, and serving of halal food
Sustainability requires the implementation and management of
a green supply chain (Bourlakis et al., 2014; Tseng et al., 2013; Zhu
and Sarkis, 2004). Zhu and Sarkis (2004) suggested that involving
all partners in the development of a green supply chain is an
important part of a sustainability program.
Although MS1500:2009 focuses on individual firms, its cover-
age of the storage, transportation, display and serving of halal food
can be seen as supply chain management. Proper segregation and
categorization of halal food in the supply chain, and dedicated
transportation are required (Tieman et al., 2012). The interviewees
highlighted that the most important consideration here is the
proper segregation of halal and non-halal products throughout the
supply chain, to prevent any contamination that could jeopardize
the halal integrity of their products. The separation of halal from
non-halal foods in the supply chain has often been achieved
 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314 309

through the establishment of a halal hub and halal logistics, and Table 4
this is claimed to provide long-term benefit for the wider economy Loadings of the indicator variables (composite reliability) and extracted average
variances.
(Lever and Miele, 2012; Van der Spiegel et al., 2012; Tieman and
Ghazali, 2014). A boom in halal industries has created many jobs, Loading AVE CR
and has also been reported to underpin sustainable consumption
and production (Dubey et al., 2016; United Nation Environment Management responsibility
Programme, 2010). efficient use of human resources 0.88 0.801 0.923
employee and participative managementa 0.96
Firm F said: “we appointed company Y (a halal logistics provi- improvement of workers' living standards b
0.85
der) to distribute our raw materials to our restaurants, because we Premises
do not want the cost of maintaining a transportation fleet (…). environmentally friendly layouta, c 0.73 0.542 0.792
When the items arrive at the restaurant, our personnel will check hygienic facilitiesc 0.65
prevention of contamination from hazardous 0.69
and ensure the quality of the product delivered (by company Y) is
materiala
intact”. Hygiene, standards, and food safety
Apart from the ultimate aim of ‘halal transportation’ is to contracts with local suppliersd 0.75 0.520 0.844
safeguard halal integrity, such efforts can also contribute to en- materials balance auditsa 0.68
vironmental energy and material conservation by imposing a more quantity of non-product output returned to process 0.72
or market by recycling or reusea
specific requirements on emissions and fuel consumption in en- procedures to prevent or minimize potentially ad- 0.72
abling a better control. Furthermore, the results also suggest that verse impacts on productsa
careful implementation of sustainability features in this dimension cooperative management 0.75
may positively contribute to the downstream of the green supply Processing of halal food
e
Animal welfare 0.91 0.793 0.938
chain management. The benefits of the halal storage, transporta-
Decrease the consumption of non-halal materialsf 0.88
tion, display, sale, and serving of food for sustainable production Cleaning processa 0.90
are evident. As per the results, the survey included the items of Meeting consumer expectationsd 0.88
‘job creation’, ‘environmental consciousness’, and ‘procedures to Storage, transportation, display, sale, and serving of halal food
g
prevent or minimize potentially adverse impacts on products and job creation 0.92 0.681 0.862
environmental consciousnessh 0.89
services’. logistic program to prevent or minimize potentially 0.67
adverse impacts on products and servicesa
4.2.6. Packaging and labeling Packaging and labeling
According to Mol (2014, p.51), “food value chains are increasingly adequacy of reporting and information provided to 0.87 0.686 0.866
the publicd
confronted with voluntary and mandatory demands to disclose the d
level of trust by stakeholders 0.72
information on the sustainability and health qualities of the products openness to stakeholder participationd 0.89
and production processes”. Although compliance with MS1500:2009 Sustainable production (Krajnc and Glavic, 2003)
is voluntary, it is mandatory for firms that are producing halal food to Reduce the use of materials and energy in the 0.74 0.567 0.921
comply and disclose the information on the product. Furthermore, products and production
Conserve resources and prevent waste 0.69
firms need to disclose information on ingredients and on the se- Minimization or avoidance of waste 0.74
paration of the product from non-halal foods. Reuse and recycling products 0.75
The halal requirements are also applicable to the packaging of Disposing of non-recyclable products or production 0.73
the food, where the materials need to be produced from halal waste in an environmentally acceptable way
Planning of products which are easy to recall 0.76
elements (for instance, direct contact with hazardous materials is
Minimization of transportation needs 0.82
not permitted) (Talib and Johan, 2012). Labeling with halal logo is Cleaner production technologies and procedures 0.76
an additional mandatory requirement. As a result, the halal logo Improving a process technology 0.80
i
provides sufficient information to the public in a simple way. Research and development in environmentally sound 0.54
Furthermore, even the marketing of a halal food product should technologies
i
Consideration of the social role played 0.53
not contravene Islamic law (e.g. advertising with the use of in-
decent pictures). These two elements –packaging with non-ha- a
Hervani et al. (2005).
zardous materials and restraints on marketing – can be seen to tie b
Veleva and Ellenbecker (2001).
c
in with sustainable consumption patterns. Trienekens et al. (2012).
d
Searcy et al. (2007).
Thus, the dimensions of packaging and labeling are represented e
Vermeir and Verbeke (2006).
by three survey items: ‘adequate reporting and information pro- f
Zhu and Sarkis (2004).
vided to the public’, ‘level of trust by stakeholders’, and ‘openness g
UNEP (2010).
h
to stakeholder participation’. Spangenberg et al. (2010).
i
Items removed during the measurement model due to weak loadings on the
construct.
4.3. Survey results

Measuring the environmental sustainability of SMEs is a diffi-
cult task because many aspects of the implementation of sus-
tainable production are not tangible. According to the literature,
the main challenge is the significant upfront cost of greening a
business (Achanga et al., 2006; Bhaskaran et al., 2006; Dües et al.,
2013). The results reported in Section 4.2 suggest that at least of
the principles of sustainability are embedded in halal food pro-
duction. Therefore, the aim was to develop a model of the links
between halal practices and the LCSP's principles of sustainable
production. The main purpose of this model is to see whether
Malaysian SMEs' halal food production practices can shed light on
the implementation of sustainable production practices. In this
model, seven sustainability constructs have been measured, while
six halal constructs are regressed to the single construct of sus-
tainable production. SmartPLS package 2.0.M3 is the tool used to
perform the relationship test between two constructs. This is a
variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) technique
(Ringle et al., 2005). Anderson et al. (1987) recommended a two-
step approach in assessing and interpreting SEM results, encom-
passing a measurement model and a structural model.
4.3.1. Reliability and validity (measurement model)
The measurement model of the study are summarized in Ta-
ble 4. All composite reliabilities that are 0.79 or higher indicate
310 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
Table 5
Inter-construct correlations, discriminant, convergent validity, and R2 (n¼ 102).
1 Processing of halal food
2 Packaging and labeling
3 Management responsibility
4 Sustainable production
5 Premises
6 Storage, transportation, display, sale, and serving of halal food
7 Hygiene, standards and food safety
internal consistency reliability. As depicted in Table 4, it is clear
that the average variance extracted (AVE) for all the constructs
exceeds the threshold value (0.5), thus showing the convergent
validity. In general, all items load significantly on their posited
constructs, while only two do not. Hence, these two particular
items are dropped from the structural model. Discriminant validity
is shown in Table 5, where the square root of the AVE value is the
highest diagonal construct.
4.3.2. Path-modeling results (structural model)
The results from the testing and evaluation of the proposed
model are presented in Table 6. From the results, the relationship
between the MS1500:2009 dimensions and sustainable produc-
tion in Malaysian halal SMEs yields mixed findings. All but two of
the paths (premises; and storage, transportation, display, sale, and
serving of halal food with sustainable production) are effective in
explaining relationships to sustainable production. The R2 value of
the Sustainable Production construct is 0.231.
The survey results demonstrate that SMEs in the halal food
industry pay the most attention to the dimension of hygiene and
sanitation and food safety attained the highest relationship with
sustainable production (β ¼0.421, t¼3.998, p o0.001). The results
can be related to the connection of halal food with healthy food
consumption, which also drives the production of organic food
(Bonne and Verbeke, 2008; Magkos et al., 2006; Nain et al., 2013;
Regenstein et al., 2003; Shaharudin et al., 2010).
Thereafter, the survey focused on the processing of halal food
(β ¼0.216, t¼2.030, po 0.05). The main content of this construct is
related to the importance of slaughtering processes, which em-
phasizes humane animal treatment and ecological protection
(Rezai et al., 2015). Of equivalent importance, management re-
sponsibility (β ¼0.198, t ¼2.290, p o0.05) contributes by providing
sufficient resources to achieve sustainability. Moreover, the de-
velopment of employees' competencies by management con-
tributes to the economic and social impacts of sustainable devel-
opment. Finally, a relationship is detected from packaging and
labeling practices to halal food protection (β ¼ 0.172, t ¼1.904,
p o0.1). The packaging factor protects halal food integrity from
Table 6
Results of path analysis.
Structural Path Path Coefficients (O)
Management responsibility-Sustainable production 0.198 (2.29)nn
Premises-Sustainable production 0.075 (0.769)ns
Storage, transportation, display, sale, and serving of 0.048 (0.450)ns
halal food-Sustainable production
Hygiene, standards and food safety-Sustainable 0.421 (3.998)nnn
production
Processing of halal food-Sustainable production 0.216 (2.030)n
Packaging and labeling-Sustainable production 0.172 (1.904)n
t-Values are in brackets.
n
significance level: p o 0.1.
nn
significance level: p o 0.05.
nnn
significance level: p o 0.01.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R2
0.890
0.447 0.828
0.34 0.176 0.895
0.701 0.463 0.497 0.753 0.231
0.731 0.548 0.236 0.593 0.736
0.526 0.196 0.579 0.601 0.431 0.825
0.689 0.305 0.354 0.485 0.576 0.361 0.721
contamination and concurrently provides consumers with suffi-
cient information for their purchasing decisions.
The relationship of ‘premises’ to sustainable production is not
significant. This is because the SMEs set up premises according to
the requirements of halal production, not the principles of sus-
tainable production. This finding corroborates previous studies on
the financial inability of SMEs to adhere to the process of sus-
tainable development (Achanga et al., 2006; Bhaskaran et al.,
2006). Furthermore, the adoption of the principles of sustainable
production is still very much a voluntary matter (and certainly not
a legal requirement in Malaysia) and, further, does not seem to be
on the agenda of most SMEs. A similar situation is applicable to the
construct ‘storage, transportation, display and sale’. These factors
are not readily incorporated into sustainable production because
they involve a complex supply chain. Furthermore, unlike organic
food, halal food production does not tend to have committed in-
dustry players in the supply chain that comply with the relevant
sustainable regulations. From this perspective, the findings of
Bhaskaran et al. (2006) are relevant: only specific sustainable
practices tend to be implemented, rather than a holistic package of
measures.
5. Discussion
5.1. The potential for sustainability goals to be achieved through the
implementation of MS1500:2009 standards
Bhaskaran et al. (2006) claimed that the differentiating sus-
tainable food is to convey the information to the consumers and
was not expected to generate demand. Further, the variety of la-
bels, namely organic, eco-friendly, and environmentally sustain-
able, has added to consumers' sense of confusion. Worse, such
labels could be falsely used. Therefore, it leads towards neglected
value among the customers and strengthened the case of non-
adoption of sustainable program by food producers.
Taking into consideration the experience with organic foods,
almost all types of food production could be made sustainable.
However, not many producers are likely to adopt environmental
standards such as the ISO14001 and EMS standards, due to the
high cost and complexity associated with compliance. This re-
search suggests that aspects at least of sustainability can be im-
plemented by introducing sustainability performance measures as
mandatory requirements for certain products. In addition, im-
plementing two parallel sets of requirements simultaneously
(here, MS1500:2009 and sustainable production) may yield more
effects, and conform to complementarity theory that predicts an
unmeasurable synergetic value of combined efforts.
The argument may be criticized for its broad application.
However, the halal industry has a sound relation to sustainable
food production in the following areas: (i) government policies
that require halal food manufacturers to comply with halal stan-
dards before they are able to trade in the industry; (ii) manage-
ment support is required (for instance in the form of a halal
 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
committee within the firm), and (iii) consumer pressure (Seuring
and Müller, 2008; Veleva and Ellenbecker, 2001). The present re-
sults suggest that the halal food industry is ready to implement
sustainable production practices. Furthermore, all three dimen-
sions of sustainable development, namely environmental, social,
and economic, were referred to during the interviews. It is possible
to argue about whether or not the principles of sustainable pro-
duction are truly embedded in halal food manufacturing, but the
broad concept of sustainability is sensible and the potential in-
dicators are limitless (Hassini et al., 2012; Searcy et al., 2007).
Thus, Table 7 is presented as a proposition for the merging of halal
food requirements with sustainable output categorized under
LCSP principles.
5.2. Indirect implementation of sustainable practices by SMEs through
compliance with MS1500:2009
On a positive note, the results have demonstrated the possibi-
lity of embedding at least some aspects of sustainable production
in halal food production. Following the arguments regarding the
difficulty for SMEs of implementing sustainable production
(Bhaskaran et al., 2006; Bourlakis et al., 2014; Hassini et al., 2012),
largely due to cost but also because of its voluntary nature, com-
plexity and the lack of perceivable effects, the assumption that no
efforts in this direction have been made SMEs may not be valid.
Moreover, as claimed by Searcy et al. (2007), the most sophisti-
cated indicator sustainable performance is not necessarily the
right one for a particular firm. Our study revealed that SMEs are
capable of achieving sustainable production. One aspect of sus-
tainable production that SMEs in the food industry in particular
may aim for and benefit from is a reduction in food miles (Ilbery
and Maye, 2005), and the present research endorses and extends
such a view. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, this study is
the first to provide empirical evidence on sustainable production
within the setting of the halal food industry.
Alongside a consumer belief in the environmental benefits of
halal products, the growth in the demand for halal food is in-
creasing because of the growing worldwide Muslim population.
Thus, there are promising opportunities for sustainability devel-
opment programs in the halal industry. Observing mandatory
production requirements from an alternative (halal) angle shows
that even for an SME the achievement of sustainable production
need not be either complicated or impossible.
5.3. Theoretical contributions
Our research extends the literature on sustainability, specifi-
cally through its investigation of how halal production might tie in
with sustainable production (Rezai et al., 2015; Suharni-Rahmat
et al., 2014). The research adopted the ‘design for sustainability’
approach proposed by Spangenberg et al. (2010) in the context of
halal food, and found that principles for sustainability were evi-
dent in MS1500:2009, the Malaysian government's halal food
production guidelines. Apart from providing the empirical evi-
dence on the relationship between halal food production practices
and the principles of sustainable production, the research also
extended the contextual framework of sustainable production in-
dicators from the halal food literature.
Moreover, there are many lessons that can be learned from this
research beyond the context of halal food production. Other sec-
tors of the food industry could be studied using a similar metho-
dology to identify elements of sustainable production in other sets
of (non-environmental) standards. Although the results suggest
that halal production focuses more on the social and economic
aspects of sustainability, the environmental aspects should not be
neglected. For instance, CO2 and other emissions are given
311
minimal attention in the results, but these are of vital importance
in environmental terms. Theoretically, organic farming (which
focuses on the environmental aspects of production) may be
combined with halal or any other specific type of food production
to create a brand label such as eco-halal, green-halal, kosher-or-
ganic, kosher-natural, etc. Such developments might stimulate
more holistic findings covering both the supply and the demand
sectors of the food industry. The research also suggests how sus-
tainability goals might be achieved in halal food production via the
‘design for sustainability’ approach. In addition, in-depth under-
standing on the similarities of all types of food production such as
halal, organics, kosher, vegetarian, may provide a valuable insights
for development of sustainable programs in the food industry.
Previous studies (e.g. Lee and Klassen, 2008; Bourlakis et al.,
2014; Ilbery and Maye, 2005; Bhaskaran et al., 2006; Garnett,
2013) have found that the main reason for SMEs not adopting the
principles of sustainability relate to cost. However, this research
suggests these costs might be reduced if mandatory industry
standards are harmonized with the goals of sustainable
development.
5.4. Managerial implications
The findings of our study offer new perspectives to managers
and consultants actively engaged with sustainable production. The
embeddedness of the principles of sustainability in the mandatory
standards, here MS1500:2009, clearly suggests that sustainable
production processes do not require an exclusive set of standards.
Instead, elements at least of sustainability can be incorporated into
a current set of mandatory industry standards. Our results in-
dicated that a careful implementation of industry standards may
help to achieve sustainability in the long run (Azapagic, 2003).
However, a concern here would be prioritizing which elements to
start with.
From our path analysis, the results offer guidance to managers
by examining the practices that have a bigger impact on sustain-
able production within the context of halal food SMEs. However,
our study did not examine costs, which is always the critical factor
for managers. Furthermore, SMEs are generally reluctant to ven-
ture into environmental programs due to the cost factor, and so
this research recommends that, so far as is possible, general pro-
duction practices are used to produce measures of the degree to
which the firm's output is ecologically sustainable. This would be a
highly recommended starting point for managers. Finally, while
the present results relate specifically to the halal food context,
they can be generalized, and managers from other types of in-
dustries can adapt and match the proposed dimensions by se-
lecting the closest halal requirements to their specific production
requirements. This is possible because halal food shares similar
production contexts with conventional foods.
6. Conclusion
It has been argued that halal food is similar to organic food in
that both prioritize health. Much of the previous research has
proposed frameworks to investigate the similarity between halal
food standards and the principles of sustainability, but there has
produced little in the way of empirical evidence on the relation-
ships between the two. This has largely been because of the multi-
dimensionality of both halal production and sustainable produc-
tion, and in particular confusion in the conceptualization of sus-
tainability. Therefore, the work reported here investigated the
relationship between halal food and sustainability through an
empirical study, including both in-depth interviews and a large
national survey. The principles of sustainable production, as
312 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314

Table 7
Halal food production in the context of sustainable production.

Halal Food Manufacturing Possible Sustainable Outputs/Performance

LCSP1- Products and packaging are designed to be safe and ecologically sound throughout their life cycles, while services are designed to be safe and ecologically safe
Processing of halal food
 The slaughtering process shall take into account animal welfare in accordance with  Environmental – Preserving animal welfare by causing least pain during
Islamic law slaughter
Packaging and labeling
 Packaging and labeling materials used in direct contact with the product shall be non-  Social / Environmental – Design of all the labeling and packaging should be
hazardous and halal in nature non-hazardous to health and community/can be disassembled, reused or
recycled.
LCSP2 - Wastes and ecologically incompatible by-products are continuously reduced, eliminated or recycled.
Premises
 Product process flow from receipt of raw materials to the finished products should  Environmental – Design the flow so that it can reduce the usage of energy.
prevent cross-contamination
Hygiene, sanitation and food safety
 Halal manufacturer should manage waste effectively  Environmental - Reduce the amount of waste prior to recycling and manage
waste after production.
LCSP3 - Energy and materials are conserved, and the forms of energy and materials used are more appropriate for the desired outputs.
Premises
 Layout of premises shall permit proper process flow, proper employee flow, good  Environmental - Hygienically reduce the energy waste during the manu-
hygienic and safety practices, including protection against pest infestation and cross- facturing process.
contamination between and during operations  Environmental and Social - Reduce the use of fresh water and ensure safe
 The premises shall be designed to facilitate cleaning and proper supervision of food consumption.
hygiene
Storage, transportation, display, sale and servings of halal food
 All halal food that is stored, transported, displayed, sold and/or served shall be cate-  Social and Economics - Design such that all stages that can be distinguished
gorized and labeled halal and segregated at every stage to prevent mixing or con- and reduce complaints and returns.
tamination with non-halal elements  Economics - Use only of regulated transporters.
 Transportations, namely trucks shall be dedicated and made appropriate to the type of  Environmental - Reduce the use of fresh water
the halal food and satisfy the hygiene and sanitation conditions.
 Devices, utensils, machines and processing aids used for processing halal food shall be
designed and constructed to facilitate cleaning and shall not be made of or contain any
materials that are decreed as filth by Islamic law and shall be used only for halal food.
LCSP4 - Chemical substances, physical agents, technologies and work practices that present hazards to human health or the environment are continuously reduced
or eliminated.
Premises
 Product process flow from receipt of raw materials to the finished products shall  Economics – Design the flow so that it can reduce the usage of energy.
prevent cross-contamination
Hygiene, sanitation and food safety
 Halal manufacturer should inspect and sort raw materials, ingredients and materials  Social and Economics – Zero customer complaints or returns.
packaging before processing  Social – Reduce risk to health.
 Halal manufacturer should store harmful chemical substances appropriately and away  Economics and social – Reduce risk to health.
from halal food  Social – Reduce risk to health.
 Halal manufacturer should prevent contamination of food by foreign matter, such as
plastic, glass or metal shards from machinery, dust, harmful gas, fumes and unwanted
chemicals
 Halal manufacturer should prevent excessive use of permitted food additives
Processing of halal food
 Food or its ingredients shall not be processed using any components or products of  Economics and social – Reduce risk to health and spiritual belief.
animals that are non-halal or not slaughtered according to Islamic law  Economics and social – Reduce risk to health and spiritual belief.
 Food also shall not be processed using any elements decreed as filth by Islamic law  Economics and social – Reduce risk to health.
 Processed food or its ingredients shall be safe for consumption, non-poisonous, non-
intoxicating and non-hazardous to health
LCSP5 - Workplaces are designed to minimize or eliminate physical, chemical, biological and ergonomic hazards.
Management responsibility
 The management shall ensure that sufficient resources (i.e. manpower, facility, finance  Economics – workplaces that comply with environmental, health and safety
and infrastructure) are provided in order to implement the halal control system standards
LCSP6 - Management is committed to an open, participatory process of continuous evaluation and improvement, and focused on the long-term economic perfor-
mance of the firm.
Management responsibility
 The management shall ensure that sufficient resources (i.e. manpower, facility, fi-  Workplaces that comply with environmental, health and safety standards
nancial and infrastructure) are provided in order to implement the halal control
system
LCSP7 - Work is organized to conserve and enhance the efficiency and creativity of employees.
Management responsibility
 The management shall appoint Muslim halal executive officers to establish a com-  Economics – Increase the rate of employee-suggested improvement through a
mittee, with Muslim members specific channel.
 The management shall ensure that they are trained in the halal principles and their  Economics – Increase employee training.
application
LCSP8 - The security and well-being of all employees is a priority, as is the continuous development of their talents and capacities.
Management responsibility
 The management shall ensure that sufficient resources (i.e. manpower, facility, finance  Economics – Workplaces that comply with environmental, health and safety
and infrastructure) are provided in order to implement the halal control system standards
LCSP9 - The communities in the workplaces are respected and enhanced economically, socially, culturally and physically, and equity and fairness are promoted
concurrently.
Packaging and labeling
 Each container shall be marked legibly and indelibly, or a label shall be attached to the  Social – Providing sufficient information to communities and consumers.
 M.H. Ali, N. Suleiman / Int. J. Production Economics 181 (2016) 303–314
Table 7 (continued )
Halal Food Manufacturing
container, with appropriate information
 Advertising shall not contravene the principles of Islamic law and shall not display
indecent elements that are against Islamic law
identified by Veleva and Ellenbecker (2001), were found to be
embedded in the MS1500:2009 standards for halal food produc-
tion. In total, 20 halal standards were identified in the series of in-
depth interviews that were directly related to the principles of
sustainable production. The survey instrument combined these 20
halal standards and the nine principles of sustainable production.
It was then used to test the relationships. In general, there was
evidence from the analyses of survey and interview data that halal
food production can achieve sustainable production. In the context
of SMEs, not all halal standards demonstrated a connection with
the principles of sustainable production. The paper has provided
the research implications of these results for theory, practice, and
future research.
Interpretation of this research must be carried out meticulously
due to several limitations. First, the measurement scale was sta-
tistically sufficient for the purpose of this research, but the re-
search suggested that future research to focus on more compre-
hensive sustainable production measurement scales covering all
aspects of sustainable development. Second, halal food production
was analyzed solely in terms of MS1500:2009, and this may not
represent all the characteristics of the halal food industry. For one
thing, MS1500:2009 focuses on the internal requirements of the
firm, but halal food depends on the wholesomeness of its pro-
duction at each stage of the supply chain. Generalizing the results
to wider contexts could be addressed in the future research by
including other key players in the halal food supply chain, and
other practices, such as integration, span of control and colla-
boration. A third limitation was that the analysis focused on Ma-
laysian halal food SMEs and sample was drawn from a single
country. Therefore, the study should be replicated in other coun-
tries to compare and contrast differences in practice.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their invalu-
able comments and the Ministry of Education Malaysia for the
funding to conduct the study under the ETP programme grant
number ETP-2013-047.
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