MOHD Izzairi Yamin, chief executive officer of Avidity Ventures says an app that can quickly bring peace of mind for Muslim foodies is his way of giving back to the nation.
The idea for HalalTouch app came about when he tried to use other apps available but found them involving too many steps or requiring a specific device to work.
A coder since his teens, Izzairi worked as a system analyst and application specialist after graduating from International Islamic College Malaysia in 2004.
In those days, he began to see how data would soon become an important part of any system or application. He revels in data mining activities so much that upon gaining enough experience and capital, he started Avidity Ventures with a group of friends in Cyberjaya to offer data mining and analysis services and applications for clients within the corporate and public sectors.
“Big Data is only being talked about today because the need to address it has become more pertinent now that we’re overwhelmed by pieces of information that we receive through reading, surfing, communicating and socialising. Recently, we have received so many information regarding the halal status of a certain restaurant chain, food product and even chocolates, but when we get it through instant messaging and such, can it be trusted?” he wonders.
“As a foodie, I am quite particular about the food I consume. As much as I can, whenever possible, I will search for halal food even when I am abroad. Lately, I find that even eating out here can be quite an adventure if you want to truly search for halal food. There are so many shops posting halal certification, but some do look quite outdated and even dubious.”
Using his data mining know-how and experience building apps, Izzairi designed the HalalTouch app which uses a smartphone’s camera to scan a unique ID to gain immediate results of a restaurant’s halal status based on Jakim’s public database.
He explains: “If you use an iOS or Android device, you can download this app for free. Then all you need to do is locate premises that are registered with Jakim that offer the unique ID to access information such as its halal status, the items that the restaurant has gotten certified as halal and the expiry date.”
The data of halal status for local businesses is available on Jakim’s website, but it is quite a task to find information about a specific restaurant.
“If you’re in a shopping mall and and want to know if a restaurant is halal or not, the app can help you, given that the premises offer the unique ID code. Also, many do not know that sometimes, a restaurant registers only a few items on its menu list to gain certification, but other items that they add later are not registered. With the app, you can quickly gain the necessary information as it is able to mine the data of a specific premise in real time,” he says.
The app is free for both users and food premise owner. “The app is really new in the market but it is free and useful. What I seek to do now is to promote the app to restaurant owners as a means to engage with their customers. By putting up a unique ID that can be generated automatically once they register at our site, the owner is able to send the message out to foodies that his premise is guaranteed halal.”
Businesses can register and get their unique ID at halaltouch.com.
“On the website, a business owner can click on the Participate button and register their business to get the auto-generated unique ID. They can print the ID and display it,” says Izzairi.
He also hopes that the app will soon become a platform of reference for foodies.
“The next stage will involve the listing of all business premises that conform to Jakim’s halal standard and hopefully, discount coupons offered by participating businesses,” he says.
Throughout the app development process, Izzairi says the cost has been helmed by Avidity Ventures fully. “I am aware that there are grants out there, but taking up one may result in losing the rights to the intellectual property that we’ve built,” he says.
“Besides, I believe the grants are best offered to those who really need them and as long as I can keep the boat afloat using my own funds, I will continue doing so. It also feels great to spend on a product that can contribute towards the improvement of the society.”