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Behind the Scenes: Traeger Grills Talk Tech and Customer Experience at Glee Gathering
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Traeger developed the first ever wood pellet grills over 30 years ago, and since then have continued to within the barbeque industry. We spoke to their UK and Ireland Country Manager, Jo McDonald, about their product ranges, new developments and how trading during coronavirus has given the brand an unexpected opportunity to get closer to their customers.
About the range
A Traeger grill can cook just about anything you can imagine, from a pizza to Yorkshire pudding, to the perfect steak and even delicious cakes and desserts! Jo told us a little more about their three ranges; Pro, Ironwood and Timberline.
“All Traeger grills have amazing usability and functionality and there's a grill for every family size and outdoor space.As you move up the range, you'll find even more premium features and benefits; the Ironwood is our middle of the range grill, which uses Downdraft technology and has different features on the control panel than our Pro grills. For example, the “supersmoke” function, which allows you to infuse food with additional smoke and flavour. The Ironwood also enjoys a larger cooking area and double- skinned stainless steel insulation within the cooing chamber and lid. The whole cooking experience is all part of the joy of grilling with a Traeger.”
The Traeger experience
Customer experience is integral to what the brand stands for and extends beyond the flavour of the food. As Jo explains, “Traeger has a growing community of fans who all know they will receive the very best customer relations experience from us, which gives them the confidence to create great tasting food every time they BBQ. “We know the technology and reliability of our grills will help them achieve that”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this season has been one to remember, with more people investing in outdoor living.
“It has been the most amazing season - if not a normal season. I think the fact that Covid has led to more people being at home, with more time on their hands coupled with the nice weather we experience at the start of summer, has made people do their research into how they can make the best of their time at home and enjoy some great tasting food.”
The barbecue of the future
Traeger have invested heavily in the technical capabilities of their products, and a mobile application to go with it. A bonus of the Wifire app is that “you can control the barbecue directly via the app, loading recipes into the grill directly from your phone, which the grill then follows by itself” explains Jo. The ability to communicate with our customers' grills through the cloud is something new to the BBQ industry and as Jo feels “it is really exciting to see what can be done with a Traeger and to experience the constantly evolving developments in our features, usability and consumer experience”.
Did you catch Traeger in the Glee Gathering Outdoor Entertainment Product Showcase? If you missed it, make sure you watch their session on demand!