(After leading two of Biggest Japanese Logistics firms to obtain Halal Logistics Certificate, I realized none of the companies are good at marketing this service to the Customer. Therefore I decided to write down How to marketing Halal Logistics to the Japanese customer. This article is for those who has advanced knowledge on Halal Logistics service & it`s contents)

The core purpose of obtaining Halal Logistics certificate of Japanese logistics companies is to serve Japanese companies those who wish to serve halal food & halal service to the Muslim consumer in Muslim countries. Just to give you little background on Japanese Halal Logistics service, Nippon Express was one of the first major Japanese Logistics Company to get Halal Logistics certificate from JAKIM through local Malaysian subsidiary in 2014 (MS2400–1). Yusen Logistics is the second major company to get certified by JAKIM through local subsidiary 2015 (All standard). There are couple freight forwarder also got certified like Nakamura Air. Only Nippon express were interested to expand this service in Japan. The early investment was necessary; they were motivated to be pioneer. They expanded their service in Japan. However, they are facing critical moment to pursue perspective customer to buy their service. To be frank, initially there were no demands of Halal Logistics service in Japan. One of the biggest challenges is the How to Marketing Halal Logistics to Japanese companies those obtained Halal certificate and want to export it to Muslim countries. I will discuss some Marketing strategy from my experience those I implemented while I worked for Yusen Logistics & Nippon Express.

Before going into details, I want to let you know that there is no cost benefit using this service for the customer. This is a true fact. No customer wants to pay more than they used to pay to their previous Logistics partner. The sales man need to explain the benefit of using Halal Logistics service in a different way. As a Non-Muslim country Japan has long way to go. So, straight to the point: What are those Marketing points of Halal Logistics service to the customer?

Brand Image: This is the first reason Japanese company certified their product or service. So, explain how your logistics service can benefit them by providing door to door Halal Logistics service to the Muslim countries they targeting for. Help them how to appeal their intentions to sell their product to their customer. How they respect Halal integrity issues. Explain how your company became pioneer of this logistics subject in Japan. Make them your logistics partner to work together. Grow both of your company together. Tell them how Ajinomoto, AEON, Kewpie became household name in Malaysia & Indonesia.

Tokyo Olympic Fact: If your customer can introduce their product earlier in the local market, same customer will search for their product during Tokyo Olympic visit. This is one the reason Japanese companies became interested in Halal certification. Explain (Inbound & outbound tourist data) how Muslim spectator will lead tickets purchase especially from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, & Middle East. Appeal your End to End Halal Logistics service to them let them know your local company also provides this service. Explain them how Ajinomoto became known in Indonesia & Malaysia.

Halal Logistics service costly: if you don’t tell them how you have faced challenges, paid costly consulting fees, made separate warehouse space, invested in staffs, training fees, they would not understand how difficult it was. Tell the full story of your company journey. Let them know, its value based service not conventional service. The Consumer are willing to pay for it, you can compensate it later on. Tell them also how dedicated trucking service was costly truck cleaning service (Sertu) is costly. If am pretty much sure they understand & pay for it. Bring the story of Nestle Malaysia. How they become the trusted partner of Malaysian Halal Authority.

Prospective Export Opportunity: Even though there are few companies those exported their halal foods to the Malaysia like Kewpie and some other trading companies. If Chinese & South Korean companies can do it as a non-Muslim country, why not Japanese companies can do it. You can be trusted logistics partner and learn together. There is export opportunity in Middle East. Malaysian & Singaporean also trust Japanese Brand. Halal is all about trust. Japan has earned that trust. They will certainly buy it. You can also bring couple of example of your current customer.

Being Part of Government Initiative: after losing dominance of Electronics market to the foreign player, Japan government has launched cool Japan initiative which emphasized to promote made in Japanese Food to the overseas market especially Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore & Hong Kong. Halal food includes into this initiative. Appeal to the customer that you are helping to implement Government initiative and helping for the growth of this industry.

As this is Halal industry is very new to Japan. Japanese company must learn from those who have experienced certification journey. The Logistics companies can play a big role in this regard. Logistics Company must advise & counsel customer as part of awareness campaign which is a big part of Halal Logistics Service. When I first took training on Halal Logistics, It was called “Halal Logistics Awareness Program”. You have to make aware customer for above benefit. Business is not always profit first; Japanese Company can promote their original customer service to prospective buyer. If you follow & Explain above points clearly to the customer, I am pretty much sure that customer will be willing to pay for extra Halal Logistics service cost.

If you need further advice or support, you can contact me through below Email address:awal.hosen@frontmanresearch.com