We saw the first full size, battery powered pellet grill last week from HALO, and if recent patents are any indication, it won’t be the last. Traeger has a patent for a battery powered grill that has two batteries. The primary battery is external that the user changes out, while the secondary is built-in to keep the grill powered while you change out the primary. It’s a great idea for seamless battery power.
We’ll see how Char-Broil’s EDGE electric grill does this season. In addition to selling the grill stand-alone, Char-Broil is bundling it with a griddle for a discount. It’s a unique sales technique that pushes the idea that consumers want more than one outdoor cooking product.
There’s one innovative grill that we might not ever get to see. RIPT Grills use wood chips with a hopper and auger system like a pellet grill. They were designed to give better wood fired flavor. While RIPT was taking pre-orders before with hopes of starting deliveries soon, their website has been completely stripped down to just a “coming soon” banner. This may be a casualty of the ongoing Traeger litigation.
The Good Charcoal Company is expanding their distribution network. The African Acacia premium lump charcoal brand will be sold nationwide in Target stores and on Target’s website. That adds an additional 1,755 stores to their store count.
Finally, Camp Chef’s parent company, Vista Outdoors announced they’ll be reporting earnings on May 3rd. It’ll be the first earnings release in the category, and will be an interesting one. They recently saw departures of multiple executives and consolidated operations of their biking brands. Despite that, they say their separation into two companies is going as scheduled.