Industry News

Minnesota-based Med-Diet, Inc., the parent company of Halal Health, is a privately held specialty food company founded in 1980 by Don Tymchuck. The company will present workshops on American university campuses where Muslim students can work on promoting halal food on campus and develop leadership skills. During next year's halal promotion, students will be tasked with creating halal demand. "Halal" refers to products that adhere to halal laws and do not use pork, alcohol, or its by-products.

The workshop will include information for food service managers and how to organize efforts to keep discussions going and get people more interested in Halal. Mr. Tymchuck will be speaking at the Muslim Students Association (MSA) National Continental Conference on July 2, 2011, from 12:00 to 1:00 PM.

Tymchuck said, "We intend this to be the kickoff for a national initiative organized by MSA to encourage its members to promote halal on more campuses next year. Students have to create demand. If there's no expressed demand, there won't be alternative dining options in campus dining. That's my goal, through mentoring students and taking steps to make things happen." Mr. Tymchuck also attended a workshop at Ohio State University, which launched its first halal food service program this year. Earlier this year, Bradley University and the University at Buffalo in New York also introduced halal to their respective campuses.

Through a unique partnership with the largest food service distributor in the Mediterranean, Medical-Catering is working to expand Halal into numerous other dining venues, including schools and universities, hospitals, restaurants, recreational/leisure/camps, government and military facilities, and corporate cafeterias. Chinese companies are encouraged to learn more about Halal market trends and actively participate in these collaborations.