Darts is poised to become China's next national sport, says Peter McCormick of Puma Dart in Katikati.
"We are working to develop the Chinese market, with the government there keen to introduce darts into schools and make it a national sport," said Peter.
If that happens it will open up a whole
new world of opportunities for the 40-year-old family company which is already recognised internationally for its top quality darts boards.
There is some irony in Puma Darts selling boards to China.
"We are the only dartboard producer left in a first-world country. All of the British dart companies have their boards made in countries like China," Peter said.
"We can't compete with those boards on price but we can and do compete on quality."
It is that attention to quality and innovation and the ability to take on the world from a New Zealand base that saw Puma Darts selected by judges as a finalist in both the Sharp Tudhope Supreme Exporter of the Year and the Page and Macare Innovation in Export awards in the 2010 BNZ Partners-sponsored Bay of Plenty Export Awards.
As well as China, Puma Darts also has its sights set on South America with a distributor established there. Products are also sold in Vietnam, the Middle East, and the United States. "We are also gaining ground in the UK where there is a lot of competition but players like our style, creativity and innovation."
Peter said Puma Darts aimed at the top end of the market - buyers who wanted top quality boards.
"Ours are player's boards. We receive constant feed back from players including some of the world's top professionals and we know what players want and what the trends are.
"Our boards are now environmentally friendly from the inks to the recycled plastics we use and that's important to our customers."
Puma Darts is known for the original Bandit board used in World Cups since 1999 due to its d innovative solution to the problem of bounce-outs.
