Kiwi company responds to “Make in India” call.
New Delhi: On 2nd of June 2022, Taj Mansingh Hotel in New Delhi witnessed a diverse gathering of India’s top hoteliers, chefs, government dignitaries and educationist; coming together to celebrate QualityNZ Groups 10 years in India – by committing to a food processing unit in India and launching a new vertical in education, QualityNZ Education Ltd.
Founded in 2012 by a small team of passionate people, the Christchurch based QualityNZ Group shares a deep connection with India. On the occasion of its 10-year celebrations, Executive Director of QualityNZ Group - Geoff Allott, reminded the audience of his first visit to India with co-founder Geoff Thin, where they were strongly encouraged to “approach India with a long-term view and be prepared to earn credibility and respect!”. That advice has proved to be totally accurate, with QualityNZ having spent the time to build a unique business model through its own Indian subsidiary company with offices now in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata.
QualityNZ has a special place for India with its Patron, Sir Richard Hadlee and Ambassadors Stephen Fleming, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori (who are all shareholders), having spent a considerable amount of time and having a deep passion for India.
Over the last decade QualityNZ has increased its footprints significantly, supplying premium quality New Zealand products to over 370 x 5-star hotel properties across over 27 cities. Their clientele includes big names like the Taj Group, Marriot, Oberoi, ITC, and Hyatt, and they also supply to other standalone fine dining restaurants across India and organised retail outlets such as Food Hall and Natures Basket.
The expansion was further boosted when Alliance Group – the largest sheep procurement company in the world became a shareholder in QualityNZ three years ago. Geoff Allott pays tribute to that relationship “having a farmer representative group as large and as internationally recognised as the Alliance Group has been fantastic for the business. We work together to maximise our chances of success in this market, and Alliance also understands that it takes time in an expansive place such as India. Working with Alliance has been a privilege for us, and we know the passion each farmer puts into ensuring their product is world class. We like to show the same respect to the product through our world class supply chain system, and the end result is that the customers end up with tasty, high-quality products”.
HE David Pine – New Zealand High Commissioner to India, who was the chief guest for the evening, addressed the gathering. “I am delighted to be here with our friends from QualityNZ Group, celebrating 10 years of hard work and success. Here’s to the next 10 years”. The Chair of India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC), Mr Earl Rattray too congratulated the QualityNZ team via a video message, acknowledging their 10-year milestone in India.
Later Dr Nitin Nagrale, CEO India and Emerging Markets, who is a well-known and respected name in the F&B sector used this opportunity to acknowledge the support QualityNZ has received from their customers. Nagrale, a founder of the highly respected ‘Hospitality Purchasing Managers Forum’ – a platform with over 5,000 members; was excited when talking about the future plans for India. “We are excited to announce that QualityNZ is in the final stages of setting up a food processing unit in India, committing to the ‘Make in India for the world’ Indian government campaign. India has the infrastructure, skills, and labour force to enable this new investment and we are excited by its potential”. This was welcomed by industry leader Dr Sanjay Goyal from Lite Bite Foods, “The atmosphere was electric, it was good to see so many industry leaders under one roof. QualityNZ raised the bar”
The final part of the evening was announcing the launch of QualityNZ Education Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of QualityNZ Group, headed by its CEO Sandeep Sharma. The company aims to focus on promoting quality New Zealand educational solutions to a select group of partners, focusing on value it provides to both India and New Zealand. Sandeep came to NZ as an international student eight years ago from Mumbai, based on his personal experience he said “the role of educational institutes, industry and community is crucial to the success of an international student. QualityNZ Education through its connectivity with universities, businesses and Indian diaspora, is in a unique position to cut across all these segments to provide a holistic student experience and success”.
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