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Earlier this year in a collaboration, rye whiskey maker WhistlePig and Traeger released SmokeStock wood fired whiskey. Now, that partnership has continued with three new products. As CookOut News anticipated, Traeger released a new whiskey based BBQ sauce, rub and pellet blend.
Consumable Focus for Traeger
Growth in consumables is one of the bright spots in Traeger’s business. In Q2 2022 they saw revenue increase 2.2% to $42.1 million. To put that number in perspective, their total sales for the quarter were $200.3 million, so the category was about 21% of their revenue.
The source of the growth is unclear though because in Traeger’s Q2 2022 earnings press release they said the following.
“The increase was driven by increased average selling prices for wood pellets and other consumables, offset by lower unit volume of pellets”
In contrast, on their earnings call CFO Dom Blosil said “…with growth driven by increased distribution in our rubs and sauces business”.
While the driver of the growth is unclear, it’s an area that may have benefitted by any pull-ahead that occurred through the pandemic. The theory being, a larger installed base of grills helps with consumable sales.
WE CONTINUE TO BELIEVE OUR CONSUMABLES BUSINESS IS A STRONG COMPLEMENT TO OUR CORE GRILL BUSINESS, WHICH DRIVES RECURRING REVENUES AND CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE TRAEGER BRAND
Jeremy Andrus, Traeger CEO
New Traeger X WhistlePig Products
Whiskey Hog BBQ Sauce
Traeger notes on the product page that this sauce features notes of rich barrel-aged whiskey, sweet maple, and a touch of smoke. It comes in an 18.15 oz plastic bottle, retails for $10.99 and Traeger is sure to note that it contains no alcohol.
Whiskey Dust Rub
This is a sweet & savory rub that blends genuine maple sugar with barrel-aged bourbon flavors. The rub comes in a 6.5 oz tin and retails for $10.99.
Whiskey Barrel Pellets
For this product, Traeger combined WhistlePig’s used oak aging barrels with a maple hardwood pellet blend to make wood pellets. Their claim is that this brings the flavor of WhistlePig’s whiskies to your food. The pellets come in an 18 lb bag and retails for $24.99.