• Sausage sizzles are returning to Bunnings.
• The home and hardware retailer confirmed sausage sizzles will be held at select stores in Tasmania and the Northern Territory this weekend, before rolling out across other states.
• It comes after Bunnings suspended sausage sizzles back in March during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Bunnings is bringing back its sausage sizzles.

The iconic fundraising initiative is returning to selected Bunnings stores in Tasmania and the Northern Territory after the home and hardware retailer suspended them in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

For organisations that had booked sausage sizzles in April, Bunnings donated $500 gift cards towards their fundraising efforts.

With the return of the sausage sizzles are new changes to ensure the safety of customers. There will be separate order and pick-up points to make sure 1.5 metre physical distancing is observed, more signs set up to direct customers, more cleaning and hygiene requirements and extra team members rostered on to encourage physical distancing.

Bunnings Chief Operating Offier Deb Poole said in a statement the company is excited to start bringing sausage sizzles back in places where restrictions have eased.

“We’ve spent the past few months consulting with community groups, governments and health authorities on how we can bring back our sausage sizzles safely for our customers and community groups,” she said.

“The return will start off at selected stores in Tasmania and the Northern Territory this weekend where we will trial a new layout that promotes physical distancing and includes increased personal hygiene processes, above and beyond the normal processes.”

Bunnings plans to roll out sausage sizzles in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, the ACT and Western Australia towards the end of July depending on the latest government restrictions in each state and territory. It will use its sizzles in Tassie and the NT to refine its processes before launching them in other states.

Organisations that had pre-booked sausage sizzles during the lockdowns will be prioritised as the sausage sizzles restart.

Usually, more than 40,000 sausage sizzles run each year, with the very first one held at Bunnings Sunshine in Melbourne 26 years ago.

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