Fonterra celebrates Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

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Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is a really important week for Fonterra says Director for Farm Source Richard Allen.

"Our Māori workforce makes up a big part of who we are and our Māori communities around the country are really important to us," Allen told The Country Sport Breakfast's Lee Piper.

"First and foremost we're encouraging the team to give te reo Māori a go."

Another way in which the co-op was incorporating te reo Māori was through two of its Farm Source retail stores, which was "pretty cool" Allen said.

"We opened two new stores this year. One in Waverley / Te Weraroa and also one in Otorohanga and in both those stores we worked with the tangata whenua, with the local iwi to actually make sure that all the words in the store were bilingual ... and also making sure that we're really recognising those regional nuances with the tangata whenua."

Listen below:

Fonterra was "really proud" of its relationship with iwi across New Zealand and was looking to rolling out more bilingual Farm Source retail stores, Allen said.

Also in today's interview: Allen talked about changes to both Fonterra's Advance Rate date and its capacity and peak volume adjustments. He also discussed why the co-op is making the changes and how Fonterra farmers have responded.