Deep fried cheese rolls anyone?  

Night ’n Day food stores around the country have embraced a new menu item, and the Clyde store is finally allowed to be part of it, after waiting nine months for consent to crank up its deep fryer.

The store was the only one of 54 nationwide that (until the end of July this year) wasn’t allowed to sell fried food, after hitting a road block with Central Otago District Council (CODC).

The national Night ‘n Day manager headed south in early July to convince independent commissioners of the store’s case, and the panel’s decision agreed it was reasonable to let the store owners extend their opening hours and sell fried food.

NDN Advertising had to apply for a separate consent to open from 6am through until 11pm, in line with others around the country (except those open 24/7), to offer fried food available in a bain-marie.

The historic Four Square supermarket, which had been on the site since 1908, had been open 8am-8pm before closing its doors and selling to the new franchisees.

Night ’n Day Foodstores national manager Matthew Lane said there was an expectation in the community that the store sold deep fried food, like other stores around the country.

By not being able to do so from January to July this year the business was not living up to its brand of being open to customers morning and night.

Last week Night ’n Day Foodstores started advertising deep fried cheese rolls for $5.90, prompting some interesting comments on its Facebook page.

The post read: “I was told that this post won't make sense to 1/2 of the country but that's literally not my problem because it can be a learning experience for the North Island… anyway, we now sell deep fried cheese rolls, available nationwide & this is not a drill.”

The humble cheese roll (dubbed ‘Southland sushi’) post attracted 365 comments and reached 1.2k people.

Central Otago residents and travellers alike were obviously keen supporters of Night ‘n Day’s fried food offerings - Cromwell is currently ranked second in New Zealand for fast food purchases, while Alexandra is fifth.

CODC told the owners of the Clyde Night ‘n Day in January they were operating beyond the scope of their consent - both in terms of trading hours and the shift in character to a hybrid convenience and takeaway food model.

But the hearings panel agreed with the owners and national manager that the proposed extended trading hours would result in a range of practical, community-focused benefits, enabling local residents to meet their evening needs without inconvenience or extended travel.

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