KUALA LUMPUR: Besides taste, safety and quality are foremost on the list of priorities when a person considers where to dine-in or takeaway.
Taking this into account, Korean restaurant MyeongDong Topokki took the step to apply for the MeSTI (Makanan Selamat Tanggungjawab Industri) certification for its Food Processing Centres (FPCs) from the Health Ministry (MoH) early this year, officially obtaining it this month.
The three MyeongDong Topokki FPCs located in Bukit Jalil are now certified by the MoH for the maintenance of food hygiene and process control which includes food safety assurance.
Its chief executive officer, Vincent Lua, said the recognition through MeSTI certification shows MyeongDong Topokki's commitment towards its customers on food safety and quality assurance.
"With this MeSTI certification for our FPCs, we can prove to our customers that we take quality assurance to the utmost level,".
"Hence, Korean street food enthusiasts should not hesitate to visit us. With MeSTI we have ensured quality assurance, and we are also Halal certified, so customers can rest assured to consume our foods," he told the New Straits Times in an interview last week.
MeSTI is a food safety programme by MoH with the objective to put in place a system for the maintenance of food hygiene and process control which includes food safety assurance and food traceability.
Through this programme, the MeSTI certification logo is introduced as part of food safety compliance and being a safety standard for micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia to be a major producer and exporter of food products by facilitating food safety and quality compliance.
Targeted coaching and assistance to food manufacturing establishments to meet hygiene and safety requirements will be provided under this programme. The programme will also allow the use of the MeSTI certification logo by food production establishments that are in compliance.
The use of the MeSTI logo is intended to act as a strong branding tool to assure consumers of the products' compliance with the required food safety and hygiene standards. It will also act to enhance the visibility and marketability of the products.
Lua said MeSTI's recognition also opened up a wider opportunity for his company to export MyeongDong Topokki products overseas.
"MeSTI is one of the requirements for exporting, for example we have our master franchise and now that we are certified, we can export our products abroad.
"We are in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry and now, we also produce our own Topokki packaging. By the end of the year, we are going to export abroad.
"After MeSTI, we are now aiming for a higher level, which are the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)," he said.
"We decided to go for the MeSTI not only because of our plans to export, but this is our promise to our customers. When you dine at our franchise stores, you are safe, you know the foods are processed in a good manner, and we are not a restaurant that just processes the food, with no strict adherence to hygiene, quality and standards".
Lua targets at least 100 MyeongDong Topokki restaurant chains operating in Malaysia by the end of this year.
He added that MyeongDong was certified by Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) in October last year.
Meanwhile, FPC head, Mohd Shahriman Yahya, said the preparations to meet criteria set by the MoH began as early as the end of last year.
"The criteria set by the MoH for MeSTI certification is very strict, so a comprehensive preparation was made since December last year for system management and documentation as well as providing training to FPC workers.
"We filed the application in January, however the process was disrupted due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced by the government to contain Covid-19 which began in mid-March.
"We continued the procedure in July, when the officers in charge came to our centres and conducted an audit. We improved according to the corrective measures after the first visit and eventually received the certification two weeks after another round of audit," he said.
Asked about the challenges faced during the application, Shahriman said the most difficult part was to educate and ensure all workers in FPC comply with the standard operating procedures.
"It takes time to educate our workers as they come from different backgrounds.
"We needed to teach them every single detail, from maintaining personal hygiene, cutting the right size of the raw materials, to washing the floor after the task is over, and we need to remind them over and over again before they fully adapted to the system.
"We emphasised that the task of maintaining the safety and quality of food processing is the responsibility of everyone. This method is seen to be effective if we look at the compliance rate of all employees in the FPC," he said.
He added that to ensure maximum cleanliness, FPCs have set up special rooms with air conditioning to store and process raw materials such as beef.
Apart from that, he said, no toilets were placed in the factory to ensure a clean and safe environment.
He also said customers do not have to worry about the food quality as the materials were produced at the factory on a daily basis.
"For example, we produce kimchi and topokki sauce at our factory every day before they are sent to the outlets.
"It will be sent to restaurants using plastic packaging according to the MOH's SOP affixed with the MeSTI logo.
"No worries about coming to MyeongDong Topokki, our FPCs are MeSTI and Halal certified and we have a team to ensure the food safety and quality," he said.
MyeongDong Topokki under the Cravito Group was first inspired and set up in 2014, with the concept derived from South Korea Subway station in Myeongdong.
Currently, it has over 50 restaurants and is the largest Fast Casual Korean Restaurant Chains in Malaysia.