\u2018\u2019Without cricket, frankly, we probably wouldn\u2019t have had those initial relationships that made it so much easier for us to become established,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It helps that many in India have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport.<\/p>\n
Allott relates that when he dropped his card at a top hotel in India, a staffer was able to recite figures from his spectacular bowling performance in the 1999 World Cup (20 wickets in the competition).<\/p>\n
He says India\u2019s love of cricket, among an extremely knowledgeable fan base of men and women, has to be experienced to be believed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat people who haven\u2019t been to India before don\u2019t appreciate is just how important cricket is in the whole ecosystem. They have a passion for cricket and they have a very deep level of understanding.\u2019’<\/p>\n
Geoff Allott in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, UK. Photo \/ Andrew Cornaga, Photosport<\/p>\n
Kiwis have another advantage: most Indian fans rate the Black Caps and the White Ferns highly, especially compared to other nations.<\/p>\n
Allott says the respectful relationship between New Zealand teams and their Indian opposition is important. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the competition\u2019s pretty intense on the field – as we would want it to be, off the field there\u2019s real respect. Both will battle hard to get the result – but teams don\u2019t go over the top.\u2019’<\/p>\n
In his new role as the sport\u2019s top administrator, he wants to cement New Zealand as the second-favourite team for Indian cricket lovers.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019If we can achieve that, then a whole lot of other benefits will come. So not just cricket, but also in the commercial world as well. All of us have got a role to play in that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Quality New Zealand<\/p>\n
It was when working for New Zealand Cricket, scoping hotels for an upcoming tour, that he spotted a gap in the market for New Zealand meat and seafood.<\/p>\n
Although those involved in Quality NZ knew India, the company was patient and spent 12 months doing due diligence before launching.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019That was all about creating efficiency, making sure that we were in control of the whole supply chain, making sure we had direct customer relationships – a lot of work in and around the projects before we even got started. But that was well worthwhile.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Since starting the business in India, the market has changed.<\/p>\n
It was easier to do business and achieve free trade agreements with other countries. <\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019Their internal systems had to improve – which they\u2019ve done. You\u2019ve just got to make sure that you treat the market with the respect that it deserves and that means heading into it, creating some relationships.\u2019’<\/p>\n
New Zealand firms moving into the Indian market will be playing in a very big space, Allott says.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019That allows you a really specific plan around how you go about it, whether that\u2019s working with companies that are already established or starting your own crusade.”<\/p>\n
Allott has stepped down as Quality NZ\u2019s CEO \u2013 the company is also looking to expand into beverages, quality dairy, education, and health and wellness under incoming group chief executive Nitin Nagrale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018\u2019Without cricket, frankly, we probably wouldn\u2019t have had those initial relationships that made it so much easier for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[206795,183475,5432,7022,2565,138,33658,16558,6741,2082,2740,115736,2347,9832,221,78,2344,117,111,43,139,69,1864,5823,3168,6642,80],"class_list":["post-521967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-allott","tag-benefited","tag-between","tag-black","tag-bradley","tag-business","tag-connections","tag-cricket","tag-doors","tag-for","tag-former","tag-geoff","tag-grant","tag-helped","tag-how","tag-in","tag-india","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opened","tag-passion","tag-shared","tag-tells","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}