ISA expands to new industries, moves to mainly remote work

The Islamic Services of America (ISA), a Cedar Rapids-based Halal certification and auditing organization, is expanding its business as it moves to predominantly remote work. The nearly 50-year-old company is moving into different industries with its Halal certification and audits, President Jalel Aossey said.  “One of the faster growing areas in our particular industry is […]

The Islamic Services of America (ISA), a Cedar Rapids-based Halal certification and auditing organization, is expanding its business as it moves to predominantly remote work. The nearly 50-year-old company is moving into different industries with its Halal certification and audits, President Jalel Aossey said.  “One of the faster growing areas in our particular industry is cosmetics,” he said. “It’s a non-consumable item, but if you look at some of the ingredients in cosmetics they can be animal-based. People might be putting certain fats on their skin that are animal derived and they may not even know … So, we’re finding this very broad industry is now getting into niche areas and finding areas of marketing and growth.”

ISA continues to serve companies across the world, as one of the leading U.S.-based Halal certification companies. It offers its certification and audit services near and far, ISA Quality Assurance Director Yassine Tebbal said. Mr. Tebbal, who immigrated to Iowa from Algeria in the early 2000s, has worked with ISA for 16 years and in the food industry for more than 30 years.  “We work with Malaysia, Indonesia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and we are working with them through the audit system standards,” he said. “I am and ISA is respected by many countries around the world. We have nothing to hide and they trust us … When you combine both a high quality product and someone who speaks their language or knows their culture, they (the customers) love it.” ISA acquired the Halal Montreal Certification Authority in Canada in 2018 and began to provide services to all of North America.  Understanding Halal products and consuming them is not only for Muslim individuals, Mr. Aossey said. Another growing portion of ISA’s work, Mr. Tebbal said, is for individuals looking to only consume and use plant-based products.  “You can target Halal and plant-based consumers,” he said. “The plant-based market is growing a lot. And another item, which is not food and not consumable, is packaging material. Plastic is plastic, but it can have animal byproducts. If the packaging is not Halal, that means there is cross contamination. We can help solve that.” Mr. Aossey believes people are becoming more aware of what they are consuming across the world, something that expands the notoriety and work of the company. “As we have more education through the internet and social media, people are becoming more aware of what they eat and put on their bodies,” he said. “... The consumer has a huge impact on what companies are going to do and how they’re going to respond to the world we live in.” As ISA extends its consumer base and the businesses it works with, its 25-member team continues to conduct on-site audits as well. Mr. Tebbal said the typical audit begins with a desk audit or inspection which then moves to the in-person site audit for Halal approval and certification. Outside of the company’s 4362 16th Ave. SW location in Cedar Rapids, ISA also employs regional auditors in Arizona, California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Minnesota.

Becoming predominantly remote

The company began remote and hybrid work options slightly before COVID-19, Mr. Aossey said, but had to switch rapidly when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., while the food industry changed dramatically. “In the certification industry itself, one of the issues with lockdowns is there were places you couldn’t travel,” he said. “We had to adapt very quickly to developing virtual and remote auditing programs. We were one of the first ones to develop that and work with some of the overseas accreditation bodies to try and outline those systems.” In 2023, the organization relies on remote workers and some travel from its workforce.  Mr. Tebbal said the company audits its clients annually to ensure they continue to create Halal products and ensure ISA’s seal of approval is accurate. “We complete our certification by giving them one year of certs for those products and that facility,” he said. “It will be audited every year for verification. Above all, our daily tasks are always to communicate with the customer and the consumer as well. We do product review and deliver results.” Continuing the positive company culture can be difficult when most people aren’t physically in an office, Mr. Aossey — who is based in Michigan — said, but that doesn’t stop him or his team from trying. “One of the things we’re looking at as we grow the North American base is how do you create a culture when most of your team is remote,” he said. “It’s still a challenge. But we try to have team meetings virtually or over the phone and not just talk business, but see what’s happening in everyone’s lives.”

Learning from the past 

In 2016, Mr. Aossey, his father William “Yahya” Aossey and ISA were sentenced in federal district court in Cedar Rapids for selling falsified labels on meat products and documents exported to Malaysia and Indonesia. At the time, he was the president of the Midamar Corporation, a meat wholesaler. They were charged with 91 counts of making false statements on export certificates, wire fraud and money laundering. Mr. Aossey pled guilty to one count after the other 90 were dropped. The falsified labels were printed and used between 2007 and 2012, according to court documents. Mr. Aossey said the mislabeling and misbranding of products is one of the greatest lessons he’s learned and he reflects on it often. “The court case also serves as a reminder that we must get back up, brush ourselves off and keep going forward,” he said. “Never let the actions of your past hold you back from accomplishing your dreams and goals.” The way the company has chosen to respond, he said, shows the character of ISA’s employees and leadership. “Your actions and character will always come through to others in the end,” Mr. Aossey said. “Testament to that belief today is the fact (that) we continue to be a respected organization in our industry, accredited globally and never shy away from speaking about what happened, why, and how to learn from it. While I wish it never happened, it did, and as a result I choose to find the silver lining in that unfortunate part of our history and hopefully can teach others from our experience.” Mr. Aossey served a year in jail and was fined more than $30,000. He said he continues to look back on the experience to ensure the company moves forward humbly and with good decision making at the helm.

Staying true to company values 

When Mr. Aossey took over leading the company from his father in 2016, it was important to him to keep the mission and approaches of the company the same. “My approach, specifically as president of the company, is that I’m a very family-oriented person,” he said. “I look at it as work is important and something that you should focus on but the family aspect is really what comes first. Find time to do the work you need to do and use that extra time to do what you want with your family.”  Mr. Aossey hopes to pass the business on to one of his children in the future as his father did to him. Regardless of ISA’s growth over the past few years, Mr. Aossey said the company remains committed to expanding Iowa’s markets. “The state of Iowa, in particular, has a great opportunity to expand the offerings of food products that we make to other states in the U.S. as well as internationally, especially with the current trajectory of population growth around the world,” he said. “The majority of that is coming from outside North America. Where it is heavily populated, Halal consuming-based countries are in both the majority and the minority. The U.S. is the breadbasket of the world in many cases. We supply a great amount of food products. So there’s going to be a continued demand for Halal products.” As ISA’s label continues to be on products and shelves across the world, Mr. Tebbal said he has received a lot more local calls — something that excites him. He said he hopes to continue to work directly with consumers in Iowa to ensure they know about the company. “I get calls from moms from Des Moines and they ask about the food they feed their kids,” she said. “They know it’s us because they find our Halal mark on the packaging … People involved in this type of industry understand quality products. They have a lot of people behind them that are working so hard, from farmers to the markets and the ‘in between’ with government agencies. There is hard work from A to Z.”