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National | Groceries

Four Square joins Māori Language Week with shopping translator app

Supermarket chain Four Square, which provides the essentials in small towns across Aotearoa, has joined in supporting the kaupapa of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori with a new app for shoppers.

Rārangi Kai is a reo Māori shopping list translator web app to give shoppers the option to create a grocery list from more than 200 items in English, then have it translated into te reo Māori.

Yesterday Countdown unveiled its support of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in the form of self-service checkouts with te reo Māori as a language option.

Anyone wanting to use the app can do so here.

Four Square is committed to fostering whanaungatanga, using the Rārangi Kai app as an inventive way to do this, national brand and marketing manager Diane Clark says.

“With our large reach across the country, supporting the kaupapa of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in 2022 with Rārangi Kai was something we felt was a significant step as part of our longer te ao Māori journey."

Clark says the app can be used for New Zealanders wanting to engage in te reo Māori in their everyday lives while doing their grocery shopping at Four Square, and at other supermarkets too.

The app was created in collaboration with Four Square and creative partners FCB Aotearoa and RUN. RUN is an advertising firm that integrates authentic te ao Māori into creative communications that span Māori and Pacific kaupapa.

RUN creative director Raymond Otene McKay says that it's great to have the app during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori but also to have extended beyond that into the future for everyone to use.

“Being a Māori-owned agency, we get a lot of organisations approaching us in the lead up to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, wanting to champion and uplift te reo for the week."