As strange as this may sound, the Traeger Grills innovation story is not about the grills, or the pellets, or the rubs and sauces, or the technology, or anything Traeger makes.
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And as important as it is, the company’s culture – how Jeremy Andrus bought the company and moved it to Utah to tap into the energy and passion of the ecosystem there – is also not its innovation story.
And as fun as they are, words like WiFire® and Smokenomics are not its innovation story either (although ya gotta love ’em).
Don’t get me wrong … the grills are incredible, the culture that creates them is outstanding, the inventiveness of the wordplay is quite clever, and they all contribute to the company’s innovation story.
But the real innovation at Traeger is about none of those things. So what is the Traeger innovation story about?
It’s about me!
I love my Ironwood 650. And from the moment I fired it up and completely mucked up my first attempt at ribs, I found a new passion for grilling. Even though I overcooked them and really didn’t like the rub I chose, I was still so fired up, I constantly glanced at the neighbors to see whether anyone was checking out my new baby.
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You know how a new car fuels your passion for washing, waxing and detailing? My 650 not only sparked my passion for grilling, it fired me up to an entirely new love for mixing and matching flavors, for experimentation, for the blending of rub and sauce and wood and meat and time.
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After 40 years of grilling on charcoal and gas, I found the chef inside me I didn’t realize I had lost. And I’m not talking about just while I am on my patio or in my kitchen. I’m waiting in a lobby for a meeting to begin, and instead of thinking about the meeting, I find myself searching on my phone for a nearby butcher, or researching flavor palates for turkey, or planning my Christmas dinner contribution six months in advance, or figuring out whether I could smoke Brussels sprouts.
Yes, the grills are incredible, the company culture is wonderful and the wordplay is fun, but the real innovation at Traeger is how its products make customers feel. I am a Traeger customer. And Traeger has innovated me.
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