ALIYA ’ S FOODS LTD
FOOD DRINK & FRANCHISE
“ If we were not CFIA approved , we could not sell our product outside of Alberta — our first reaction was that , since we would like to sell throughout Canada and the world , CFIA was our first criteria ,” said Jiwani . But while the approval of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is an important jumping off point , Jiwani explained that is only the beginning in a long line of certification approvals . “ As soon as we got CFIA approval , this led to HACCP certification . Clients like Costco and Loblaws would not list our products if we didn ’ t have HACCP , so this opened more doors for us . These were our initial certifications , but eventually we started looking at the US market and therefore the USDA , or the United States counterpart to the CFIA .”
From there , Aliya ’ s Foods has begun to focus on third party certifications like SQF . “ Major supermarkets want third party audits , so we keep getting those certifications to make sure none of those doors are closed to us ,” says Jiwani . But in addition to creating new opportunities for Aliya ’ s Foods , the idea of certification for the company is also closely linked to the simple idea of providing proof to the claim that Aliya ’ s Foods products are the best they can be .
“ With my wife being a dietician and very focused on quality , our main objective from Day One has always been : whatever we do , quality has to be of the highest standards ,” said Jiwani . “ That ’ s why we kept adding on anywhere we could see having mechanisms in place to measure quality , and why we make sure to keep attaining those certifications . One of our popular mantras is this : we will not sell anything we wouldn ’ t want to eat at home everyday .”
Learning from the public As a food manufacturer , keeping up with current consumer trends is imperative . Aliya ’ s Foods strives to maintain a link with its consumers and peers — and there are few better ways to do this than through trade show and expo attendance . While these exhibitions allow Aliya ’ s Foods to show off new product creations , they also allow the company to obtain crucial feedback and keep an ear to the ground of what consumers are
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