The Warehouse Invercargill is proud to announce it will be using the Choice As Sizzle guidelines for community fundraising barbecues at the Invercargill store from January.

The guidelines, which are designed to provide a healthier twist on the popular Kiwi fundraiser, recommend swapping to a grainy bread, not using any spread, swapping to a low-sugar, low-salt sauce option and adding some veg like onions, coleslaw or grated carrot.

The Warehouse Invercargill manager Kelvin Mooney has been a supporter of the concept since first being introduced to it by Healthy Families Invercargill.

“I thought this was a great idea and would be something we could do for the many customers who enjoy grabbing a fundraising sausage at our store,” Mooney said.

“The wellbeing of our community is really important to The Warehouse, and this initiative fits in really well with our values.”

The Warehouse Invercargill provides a free community barbecue for fundraising groups, with thousands of sausages sold each year and bookings having to be made months in advance.

The Warehouse Invercargill has already conducted a three-month pilot of the Choice As Sizzle guidelines, with most community groups who trialled the recommendations keen to keep using them.

Research done by Healthy Families Invercargill has found that community groups can make the same profit from their sausage sizzles, with the added bonus of providing a healthier choice for the public.

Healthy Families Invercargill manager Jared Cappie said The Warehouse had been great supporters of the Choice As Sizzle concept.

“It’s been awesome having The Warehouse involved with this, and great that they have committed to using Choice As Sizzle from January. We recognise that there are some health concerns with processed meats like sausages, but the sausage sizzle is such a part of Kiwi life that we wanted to see if we could put a healthier twist on it.”

Choice As Sizzle has been used at a number of Sport Southland events, including the ILT Surf to City, MAD Day Out and Mitre 10 Tough Kids.

Healthy Families Invercargill are hoping businesses, schools and sports clubs will switch from their normal barbecue fundraiser to the healthier option.

“This isn’t about taking anything away from anyone, it’s about making the healthy choice the easy choice,” Cappie said.

Sport Southland’s Healthy Families Invercargill initiative is part of a Government-funded health platform to create sustainable healthy change in our region and combat the rising tide of preventable chronic diseases like Type-2 diabetes.