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Ali Bin Ali Hospitality attains new heights, receives Food Safety Management System ISO 22000 certification

Adding another achievement to the Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Holding portfolio, the Ali Bin Ali Hospitality division has been awarded the Food Safety Management System ISO 22000 certification. With this, Ali Bin Ali Hospitality became one among the top hospitality companies in Qatar to receive the recognition.

 

The certificate was ceremoniously handed over on August 1, 2018 by Bureau Veritas Certification Qatar at a private event held at ABA Hospitality’s fine-dining restaurant, Em Sherif Qatar.

 

The award was handed over by the Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas Qatar, Mr. Selim Kseib, to General Manager of ABA Hospitality Mr. Philippe Tardieu. 

 

Mr. Tardieu thanked his team for their efforts and said, “Ali Bin Ali Group is investing a lot in the hospitality industry. To support this growth, it was an essential part of our strategy to create a safe and quality foundation for our food business. We wanted to ensure our expansion with the best international practices. Food is pleasure for the senses but its quality is critical for our business reputation. ISO 22000 is the ultimate recognition of our standard. It not only validates and adds value to our efforts but also encourages us to seek excellence in our everyday operations.”

 

Mr. Kseib congratulated the Ali Bin Ali team and said; “It was a pleasure working with ABA Hospitality. I would like to compliment the team on achieving the ISO 22000 mark in less than six months. This is an achievement in itself. This coveted certification truly reflects the high level of commitment and leadership from Ali Bin Ali Hospitality to benchmark best international practices in Food Safety Management Systems. We take great pride in this association with ABA and truly see ABA as an esteemed strategic partner in promoting the culture of Excellence in the State of Qatar.”

 

ISO 22000 is a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization dealing with food safety. This international standard specifies requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the food chain needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption. The certificate integrates the principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system and this makes ISO 22000 the highest form of accreditation in the industry.

 

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Ali Bin Ali Group organizes Cyber Awareness Session

Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Group has always tried to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and happenings around the world. In view of the increasing threat of cyber-attacks on individuals as well corporations, ABA Group decided to organize a Cyber Awareness Session that focused on senior management and senior employees exposed to cyber-security concerns currently being faced by the Group. 

 

The session is part of a larger campaign where the plan is to extend the knowledge to the rest of the Group, covering all employees from every division. The ABA IT Department joined hands with ABA Finance to invite Subject Matter Experts (SME) Ernst & Young (EY) to deliver a session of to explore the potential cyber threats and the ways to combat it.

 

The event, held on June 6, 2018 at the Al Falak Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Doha, was attended by seniors from the Group.

 

In the run-up to the event, ABA IT had sent out a ‘phishing’ email to the invitees to check their awareness level. The susceptibility rate for this exercises (14%) was much higher than average susceptibility rate and it justified further the necessity for the session.

 

The event was inaugurated by Group Chief Financial Officer Mr. Iftekhar Ahmad, who was also the initiator of the Cyber Awareness campaign.

 

He highlighted the seriousness of the matter and said: “Cyber-attacks are a reality and every day someone is falling prey to it. In the recent past, ABA Group has been a victim of such attacks. I request everyone to not take this matter lightly and do everything in our power to stay safe.”

 

The session began with a short video where ABA staff answered questions related to cyber-security awareness.

 

After a short introduction, the EY team began with their educative and informative presentation that covered all aspects of cyber threats, awareness and security. Constant interaction with the attendees made the session engaging.

 

The presentation was perfectly complemented with an interesting workshop where the attendees were divided into groups and asked to perform tasks to test their level of awareness. The workshop covered the key areas of cyber-attack threats, including passwords, disorganized desks, and email phishing. The activity was a perfect and fun way to pass on the critical massage about cyber awareness.