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If your company is purchased by Private Equity, run don't walk. Only the few at the top will make millions and the company will be destroyed and gone. -
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They won't rebound from this, someone will buy and use the brand name possibly... You can't survive when your "premium" Chineseium product is the same price as hand made grills here in the US and of equal or lesser quality to other Chinese built grills at half or less the price. Your brand name only goes so far.Comment
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Spinaker their flagship model with just a few of the essential accesories comes in at over $5K... more than an all Stainless MAK 2 Star, that's insane. You could almost buy a YS640 AND a YS480 or just a YS640 on a comp cart with ALL of the accessories and still have plenty leftover in your pocket -
That is insanity. Yoder and MAK are far and away better. ItsAllGoneToTheDogs -
Spinaker Because they don’t know any better. They decide that they need/want a new pellet cooker and off to the store they go. And Traeger are everywhere.
If ya don’t know, or know someone that does, it’s not likely they’ll even run across a Yoder or MAK. Are those even sold in stores? OTOH, hardware & DIY stores all seem to carry Traeger. So it’s familiarity with seeing the brand as much as it is to ignorance of other/better brands. And the guy at ACE isn’t about to point them elsewhere.
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Interesting that the current private equity has had it since 2017. The first private equity kept it 3 years. Guess it's time to tank.Comment
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My original Traeger was a tank, thing was built right and service on it was amazing. I’m pretty sure I spoke to the one of the Traeger boys a few times when my auger was being a heifer. They diagnosed it in no time and expressed mailed me the part at no charge.
It is sad their name is not associated with quality. I admire them making a bunch of money, but I’m not sure I could sell my name….Comment
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Michael_in_TX you mean the anti malware that gives you malware?
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ItsAllGoneToTheDogs dude, my dad held onto a Compaq for decades. At one point he was speaking Creole to the Customer Service guy. -
This is the exact same unit and experience I had with them for years. Then it seemed like overnight they tanked. I gave my beast of a Traeger to a friend and bought the LSG pellet pooper. No regrets with that decision.
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I have not been a fan of Traeger since they I bought the Tailgater years ago. They eventually fessed up that it was too small to hold temps, which made it a really expensive pellet fueled Jumbo Joe. In fact, I bought it at a “roadshow” at a music festival. I haven’t even plugged it in in years; I need to get rid of it. I’m not sure if the auger will still turn since I didn’t clean it out; I just set it in the garage.Comment
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Not shocking.Comment
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Oh yes, no Traeger. 😩Comment
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As a (fairly recent) Traeger Woodridge Pro owner all I can say is that if the company has to move manufacturing back to the US to avoid tariffs (and they should) then they won't be able to offer products with the price points of the Woodridge and other sub $1k lines.
Should be interesting to see what happens with their paid celebrity chefs who promote Traeger in their videos.Comment
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jayjordan I have on good authority, this is the demise of Traeger. Their quality has completely tanked. I am not sure how they are going to get out of this. Their name, at this point, is the only thing they have going for them and nothing else. No where what the family/original owners produced. No where near the same quality/product. Costco has had so many returns of their product. So many issues. They are priced as close to a premium product but fallen very short. The problems are abundant. And their customer service are cached answers/response. The ownership changes and IPO has killed the company.Comment
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Traeger's Project Gravity has perhaps impacted more on the UK initially with the demise of Traeger UK and the closing of the Meater HQ. I cant help thinking Traeger overextended with their acquisition of Meater because whilst the product is OK it a) hasn't kept pace with the competition including new innovations like RFX and b) hasn't been integrated into the Traeger fold as well as it might have been?
This AI summary of Project Gravity says a lot:
Project Gravity is a multi-phase restructuring and cost-cutting plan by Traeger designed to improve cash generation, reduce inventory, and drive long-term operational efficiency.
Key Phases of the Plan- Phase 1: Focused on workforce reductions and centralizing the operations of its MEATER brand, which included closing the MEATER office in Leicester, United Kingdom.
- Phase 2: Focuses on structural channel optimization and simplification. This includes exiting the Costco Roadshow program, redirecting online shoppers from Traeger.com to retail partners, moving to a European distributor model, and consolidating pellet mill operations
Strip out the BS and to my mind it spells trouble, the problem is there are very few alternatives to Traeger on this side of the pond.
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I think it's quite clear that Traeger is in a lot of trouble.
It's funny, as their name is almost ubiquitous in the pellet smoking world... but they've fallen prey to the "Make It In China" business model and have lost their previous "premium" reputation. I'm not sure they ever WERE premium, though they were well marketed for a long time...
But there's just too much competition out there and too many other 'budget' tier grills that can do everything Traeger can (and more), and they don't have the quality to compete with top-tier grill anymore. Some people will be sad to see them go - I see it as a sad reflection on what happens when you compromise too much.
Of course... looking at what happened to MAK, refusing to compromise on quality can have just as drastic an effect, if not moreso. Not being able to source materials, find a quality manufacturing base or find employees willing to actually work, it's all a nightmare, I'm sure. I know I wouldn't want to do it.
Interesting, someone mentioned Matt Pitman from Meat Church. I noticed over the last year or so, he seems to have moved away from his Traeger product placements. He does still show them on occasion, but I've seen him using other smokers a lot more than it seemed he used to. One criticism I used to see was people talking s*** about his use of pellet smokers, but I also wonder if he'll transition to something like LSG or what. I expect so.Comment
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