Jason Lim runs VeriTAG, a cloud tagging company that uses QR code to authenticate food products and their source. Further than that, VeriTAG also offers tagging solutions which enables quick and easy checks on the authenticity of products’ Halal certificates.
In 2018, SME Centre @SMCCI collaborated with VeriTAG to bring in 26 Singapore F&B companies into China in an effort to understand the business landscape as well as introduce halal products into the country.
During this collaboration, Senior Business Advisor, Shura Ishak saw an opportunity for VeriTAG to expand into other countries such as Thailand, where the halal market is growing and constantly evolving.
“In 2018, the Centre went on a study trip to Bangkok to better understand its business climate and halal industry. Through our findings, we discovered that Thailand is the 10th largest exporter of halal products in the world. This poses a lot of opportunities for foreign companies to tap onto the country’s halal market due to its potential,” explained Shura.
Hence, she decided to introduce Jason and his team to Dr Winai Dahlan, Director of The Halal Science Centre (HSC) of Chulalongkorn University. In his capacity, Dr Dahlan focuses on maintaining quality standards of halal and science through technology such as the Hal-Q, a management system that combines Halal standard and food safety to ensure hygiene and quality control for Muslim consumers.
The availability of this technology posed an opportunity for VeriTAG to connect with HSC and explore areas of collaboration. In late 2018, VeriTAG signed an MOU with Thailand during the Thai Halal Assembly and are in the process of adoption.
Since then, Jason and his team have progressed towards setting up the first functional and operational blockchain Halal production ecosystem between China and countries such as United Kingdom and Brunei.
“Shura was forthcoming from the beginning in helping us establish the right connections. She understood our plans and pushed us in the right direction. We’re expanding rapidly and am excited to see what the future entails for us,” shared Jason.