The iconic New Zealand chocolate company Whittaker's will be celebrating Maori Language Week by renaming one of its most popular flavours.
The Creamy Milk chocolate flavour will be renamed Miraka Kirimi and released nationwide as part of the company's Te Wiki o te Reo Maori celebrations.
Whittaker's has translated the Creamy Milk into te Reo Maori since 2020, but it's only ever been available through social media competitions. This year, with Maori Language Week starting on the 12th of September, Whittaker's will be releasing the translated block in stores nationwide starting on the 22nd of August for a limited time only.
The Co-Chief Operating Officer at Whittaker's, Matt Whittaker, said in a press release that the company is stoked to be celebrating Maori Language Week even more than usual this year.
"We are delighted to extend our celebration this year by making our limited edition Miraka Kirimi label more widely available, as well as through a number of other staff initiatives," he said.
"We're pleased to take part in this week of celebration to help revitalise te Reo Maori, and we hope that Whittaker's Chocolate Lovers will enjoy sharing a block of Miraka Kirimi with their friends and whanau," he finished.
Huge shoutout to Whittaker's for getting behind Te Wiki o te Reo Maori and making the translated block available around Aotearoa.
Maori Language Week has been celebrated since 1975 and came to be after many New Zealanders in the 70s thought that the language was losing popularity and its rightful place in life in Aoteroa. After 30,000 people signed a petition, the government eventually made a Maori Langage Day, which was soon turned into Maori Language Week.
We believe keeping te Reo alive and a part of our country is massively important and every little bit can help in doing so.
