Haji Baba Halal Meats, a mark of quality meat in London

Sahiwal (Pakistan) born Nisar Malik introduced Halal meat counter at Britain’s leading super market chain ASDA under the business name Haji Baba Halal Meats. He arrived in Britain at the age of 17 years. He had been a former councillor from Hounslow. His father-in-law had set up a shop ‘Haji Baba Food Store’ near Hounslow East tube station 30 years back which for the last fifteen years is being run by him and his wife Mrs Nisma Malik. He is the second British Pakistani working with a super market chain in Halal Meat sector. Today Haji Baba Halal Meats counters are providing Halal meat to their customers at five different ASDA store branches in London. The Asians’ team interviewed Nisar Malik on the business and issues related to the meat industry.

The Asians: Please let us know about you?
Nisar Malik: I was born in Sahiwal and came here at the age of 17. Since then I have continuously been working with full strength and honesty in line with the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah’s principles. My father and brother had already migrated here, a good reason for me to migrate too. I live in Hounslow with my wife who is a big support to me. We have three children. I had been councillor on Labour party ticket but opted out from the recent elections owing to my personal preoccupations.

The Asian: How did you start Haji Baba Halal Meat business?
Nisar Malik: My father-in-law started his business under the name of Haji Baba Store near Hounslow tube station which I and my wife are running for the last 13 years.  We retained the name adopted by my father-in-law.

The Asians: What problems did you face in expanding the business to the present size?
Nisar Malik: It is my personal experience that in this country everyone has equal chance to work without any discrimination of race and creed provided he believes in labour and has a target before him to achieve. As regards difficulties everyone faces them in one form or the other but the important thing is that he should deal with them with his willpower.

The Asians: What are the problems faced by Meat and Halal meat industry?
Nisar Malik: The biggest problem is that it is not an organized sector. The real issue is of carrying the meat from the slaughter house to the shop strictly in accordance with the prescribed rules and procedures; for example the animal should have been slaughtered according to Halal procedure in a clean ambience and the vehicle used for transportation of meat has the prescribed temperature control system. However, the situation has now improved.  I keep certain points in my mind in procurement of meat that the stuff is 100 % Halal, the butcher is a Muslim and the animal has been slaughtered in the name of Allah. This check I have to carry out by myself. There are organizations such as Halal Food Authority and others but they charge fee to fix their seal. People had been using Halal meat even before these organizations. Moral and ethics are important in this business so that the shopkeeper could not play with the faith of his customers just for profits.

The Asians: How do you procure Halal meat?
Nisar Malik: I myself go to the slaughter house and procure the consignment with great care. Only being Halal meat is not enough as cleanliness of the place is also equally important where the animals are slaughtered and dressed and they have been taken full care of before their slaughter. The third important point is that the meat is according to the standard and regulations of the super market with which I am working.

The Asians: Who usually are your customers?
Nisar Malik: They differ from one shop to the other. I have five meat shops in Hounslow, Beckton, Carry Wharf – Isle of Dogs, Colindale and Walthamstow which is popular among the Pakistani community.

The Asians: How does Haji Baba Halal Meat differs from common meat shop?
Nisar Malik: Haji Baba Halal Meats stuff could be easily checked from slaughter house to the shop. Great care is taken about hygiene from farm to shop which means everything from operation to transportation and storage is temperature controlled. In common shops little is cared about dust and hygiene. I myself cared little about these points before but while working with super market I have to take full care about standard and regulations.

The Asians: Why did you opt for working with ASDA?
Nisar Malik: I had my own meat store. One day one of my customers said he used to go ASDA for shopping. I told him that I also had fruit and vegetable at my shop but he replied that ASDA has more vegetable varieties.  This made me to think about working with ASDA and I held meetings with their officials and put my business plan before them. But it took me one and a half year to convince them about it. I had to tell them about my next two years planning. They wanted to know about every bit of my business plan. I had opened first shop in August in Hounslow while the fifth one at Walthamstow in April 2010. It’s a big task for me as I have to maintain all standards and regulations at all these points. The major problem is of work force as there is a lot of difference for a butcher working in a common shop and at ASDA.

The Asians: Do you give some specific training to your butchers?
Nisar Malik: Yes, they are not only given training in cutting meat but also on different training courses to get awareness about health and food safety. They are told to wash their hands before entering and after leaving the shop, cover their heads and wear uniforms.

The Asians: What kinds of people make your force?
Nisar Malik: The work force is a mixture of different people. We have whites and Asians both. But the butchers are all Muslims. To me their learning capacity is more important.

The Asians: What is price difference between your shops and the others?
Nisar Malik: Taking into account standard and quality, our prices are quite reasonable. Some of the products are cheaper than the common shops but there could be a difference of 5 or 10 pence in other products. There is a range of 20 to 30 products in chicken, lamb and beef. Contrary to other shops we have a long range of beef varieties. We also offer 30 to 35 marinated products.  Haji Baba Halal Meats are 100 % Halal and If anyone has any doubt, they are welcome to visit where we buy our meat and poultry from, unannounced, happy to provide suppliers addresses when asked.   

The Asians: What is the difference of working here and in Pakistan?
Nisar Malik: I came here in 1976 knowing not a single English word.  I learnt here everything and this country offered me all sorts of opportunities. I took my children to Pakistan in 1992 thinking I would brought them up there according to our own culture and do some business. But instead I lost £100,000 – my life time savings and returned. The reason was that In Pakistan if some police man stopped you on road you had to pay something as bribe no matter you were not at fault. It’s a business as usual in that country.  I immediately decided that I would make my children good Muslims in England instead of a hypocrite Muslim in Pakistan.

The Asians: As you said earlier your wife also works with you. How do you feel working together with your wife?
Nisar Malik: My wife is not just my wife but my business partner too. She encourages me at every step and stood with me in my difficult times. My children also help me in my business. But I advised them to pay attention to their studies. My elder daughter did graduation in Business Law. My elder son did M.Sc. in Mathematics from Kings College while the younger one graduated in travel and tourism as well as Business Management. I always tried that my children get maximum education.

The Asians: Perhaps you are the second Muslim working with a big retail chain. What was the reaction from others?
Nisar Malik: You meet different kinds of people in your life. People were envious but over all there was a positive reaction especially from the customers as they now get all essential items under same roof on reasonable price comparing to common retailers. The second important thing for them is that they get quality meat produced under hygienic conditions.

The Asians: Would you like to give some tip to new comers into this business?
Nisar Malik: I just want to tell them that the time had gone when Halal meat was the customers’ only preference whether unclean and unhygienic. The generation born here looks for hygiene like other English shops. Therefore they should take care of sanitation and quality standard.