From infusing their product with innovative technology to supplying retailers with an impactful story tell tell year round, Broil King is helping keep the conversation going around outdoor cooking and entertainment. During PrimeTime in August, we sat down with Andrew Feldman, Director of U.S. Sales for Broil King, to talk about all that and more.

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Rob Stott: All right, we are back on the Independent Thinking Podcast, sitting down right now with Mr. Andrew Feldman, Director of Sales for Broil King.

Andrew Feldman: Thanks for having me.

Rob Stott: Appreciate you jumping over.

Andrew Feldman: Appreciate having me.

Rob Stott: A quick little jaunt. You’re not too far. Nice of you to pop over to the podcast area.

Andrew Feldman: I know. It was easy. It’s easy. I was able to check out who was over here first and I was like, all right. I’ll be ready when he’s ready.

Rob Stott: Yeah. Sounds good, man. How are things? How’s it going?

Andrew Feldman: Things are good. Things are good. Show’s pretty good, a little slow, but getting in front of the dealers to show them the new technology that we have coming out or that’s out now and giving them some reasons to get back into the barbecue business or to expand their barbecue business.

Rob Stott: Well, start with the business. How is the barbecue business right now?

Andrew Feldman: I think as a whole it’s pretty stale, pretty level, a little down. The premium stuff is doing well right now because it’s not very seasonal. But the retail side of things, and when I say retail it’s a lot of the stuff that we have here like us and some other brands, the preseason stuff is when the dealers want to make their eyes for the most margin. And they get some time to pay it off and get it later in the year or earlier in the year.

Rob Stott: For those that might not know, explain that. You’re saying preseason. Explain that calendar for this industry. What does it look like?

Andrew Feldman: So for the grills, it’s September to November is when the real big push to get product on people’s floors. But what happens is that you make your purchase, you get the better discounts.

But the product doesn’t ship until January, February so that you’re ready, so the dealers are ready for the start of the spring and the season for all that.

Rob Stott: I mentioned a little… COVID, did you guys see a spike like most other industries? Did that impact you?

Andrew Feldman: Yeah, it was crazy. So the last four years have been really interesting because the COVID years, we had inventory. We sold a ton of inventory just like everybody probably sold a lot of inventory. So the hangover from that is still valid.

And then mix that with the election year, the interest rates, the this, the that, the anything that anybody wants to talk about.

Rob Stott: Compounding factors, man.

Andrew Feldman: Yeah, there’s just a lot of uncertainty out there. So it’s probably going to be a little bit before the confidence is back up.

Rob Stott: Well COVID impact, I feel like everyone’s feeling it, because the consumer reset every market it felt like. Right? Those cycles that you typically see, they were out spending because interest rates at the time were low, right?

So do you guys… Do you adjust strategy at all because of that?

Andrew Feldman: Well, you kind of have to a little bit. Not only that, but with the introduction of staycations during COVID, right?

Rob Stott: Right. Exactly.

Andrew Feldman: People weren’t just buying one type of grill. People now have five grills in their backyard and they’re like, “Well, do we need all that?”

So they’re kind of waiting it out a little bit. But what we did was we’re not really changing our lineup per se, so everything’s going to pretty much stay the same. However, as you saw yesterday, we have our iQue technology, so we’re the only ones out now that…

It is a smart grill.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Andrew Feldman: And you can actually adjust your temperature from your app on your phone or iPad or whatever. So that’s what’s really been a great increase for us. It’s taken really well, it’s selling really well, and it gives the dealers a little bit of positivity to get back into the grill market and give people other options to buy new grills.

Rob Stott: I got to talk to your marketing team, too, because iQue, the way it’s written out, obviously smart. There’s so many plays on that term and how is it… Because it’s I-Q-U-E, right?

Andrew Feldman: Yeah, yeah.

Rob Stott: So it is perfect.

Andrew Feldman: It surprised me, too. I thought that is pretty cool.

Rob Stott: No one’s ever thought of this? It’s like, what?

That’s awesome. But for those that don’t know, talk about that a little bit. Dive into the technology and what it does.

Andrew Feldman: So it’s a little bit of a manual process, but it’s also a automatic process. By manual process, what I mean is that you have to turn the knobs on first and it’s really made for your slow cooking. But it can also be used for everything.

So there’s adjustments to be made, in direct cooking, direct cooking. But from your 200 to 400 degrees, you have a lot of variations on how you can manage the grill from your phone.

Rob Stott: Okay.

Andrew Feldman: Not only can you change the lighting color, you can change the temperature. And it’s kind of like doing a pellet grill. It’s the same technology as a pellet grill, but on your gas grill. So you’re at the lower temperatures, you can WiFi, Bluetooth. It comes with two probes. It’s an internal probe that sits normally right above the nameplate badge in the hood of the grill, but you can take it out and change it to a clip on the warming rack. You can change it to a clip on the regular grilling surface.

So if you want really exact temperatures, you can move that around and really get some cool things out of it.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Andrew Feldman: For the retailers, not only great margin for them and a cool new technology for them, but we also have a QR code that comes with each one of the grills so every customer that buys it can register their grill and get a free care package from us, which would include a pellet smoker box, a wine bottle opener, some seasonings. I think a bag of pellets as well. But it gives them something to start with.

That’s really what we are after because our grills are probably the most diverse style of grills in the market with how you can fluctuate temperatures and the way that you cook. So it just gives you a little bit more.

Rob Stott: Yeah. It’s a cool story for them to tell, too. It’s an opportunity. I imagine they’re getting educated on all this technology themselves, so they’re learning about it. And I know our independent retailers more so than in big box, love to be that expert for their customers, right?

Andrew Feldman: Right.

Rob Stott: So the ability for them to know about this technology and share that knowledge with their customer, it’s a story for them to tell.

Andrew Feldman: Exactly.

Rob Stott: Theme that we’ve been seeing no matter who we talk to at the show is having that story and being able to tell it to your customers is a real differentiator for retail. So it’s just one more notch in their tool belt that you guys are giving them.

Andrew Feldman: Yep.

Rob Stott: No, that’s awesome. So what else is new and exciting for you at the show? What’s over there in the Broil King booth and what are retailers gravitating towards?

Andrew Feldman: Yeah, so I wanted to change it up a little bit this year for the appliance channel, just from doing this for so long and showing so many different types of products, because we have everything. I went a little bit higher price point with what we have. I wanted to show that we have a whole built-in menu of stuff, and that’s only going to grow as well.

So it’s fun to see dealers come over, members come over and be like, “Oh, you do this, too?”

I’m like, “Yeah.” It’s almost like, “I’m sorry, I haven’t shown it the entire time I’ve been here, but how many grills can I fit into a 10 by 20?”

So yeah, we’ve shown that. We have our Broil King town display that we want dealers to really adapt to because it really doesn’t take up any space in their floor, but it makes them look like they’re actually in the category instead of picking and choosing one grill here, two grills there.

You want people to know that you’re in the category.

Rob Stott: Yeah. What’s it been like for you being in this space and seeing how… Again, I think even over just the last four years, the consumer interest and the way they approach outdoor living and outdoor cooking, it has evolved tremendously, I have to imagine.

Andrew Feldman: It has evolved. I’ve been in this world for 10 years, and it’s interesting to see the people that have adapted to it early are still doing really well with it. Not only do we have price points, and all the dealers, all the vendors, have them too, but 449 to 15,000 bucks, we’ve got all of that.

And it’s a lot to it. And it can get overwhelming and everything like that. But the dealers that are doing it right are making great margin. They’re making great money on it. There’s turn and burn products. There’s products that you can talk about that really enable these members who are owning the inside of the house to start owning the outside of the house, too.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Andrew Feldman: And what you guys show here, not only grills, but you got your outdoor furniture. You’ve got big brands that are coming out with outdoor furniture that your furniture dealers are like, oh, well maybe we need that.

And then on top of that, because of their furniture stores, you’ve been in a hundred of them, I’ve been in a hundred of them. There’s their setup so people can understand where they’re at. So with the outdoor furniture, you have your grill there, too.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Andrew Feldman: And you don’t need to do a whole display, but you have things mixed around. You have people to understand how it works in their backyard.

Rob Stott: That lifestyle experience.

Andrew Feldman: Exactly. You walk into an indoor appliance and you see these great kiosks of your high-end stuff. That’s what the outdoor needs as well.

Rob Stott: Well, the other thing, too, that for anyone not in the space currently as far as outdoor living or even just the grilling industry, is the opportunity for, I think, about appliances specifically. Mattresses too, right?

That customer, the life cycle, you’re talking about almost 10 years, right? Seven to 10 years, they might not be coming back. With your space, there’s the opportunity to really push more regular engagement with that customer from all the accessories that go along with it and everything else that you guys do.

Andrew Feldman: Absolutely. And for the appliance dealers that want to get into mattresses, it takes up a lot of space. To get into a mattress world, you don’t want have just one bed on your floor, you got to have a lot.

Rob Stott: Right.

Andrew Feldman: So it takes up a lot. With the grills, four grills puts you in the market, puts you in the game, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. So it’s easier to get into that.

And then you mentioned accessories. Personally, it’s my favorite part.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Andrew Feldman: Accessories are, they’re lower ticket items, but they’re 40 to 60% margin. And it’s stuff that people don’t necessarily know that they need, but when they buy their first one, they’re like, oh, I can show off and get this one too and try this and everything.

And our accessories that come in boxes have the recipe of the food that’s on the box, in the box.

Rob Stott: Oh, that’s awesome.

Andrew Feldman: They can start there, go onto our website, go onto whatever website they want, and just build their arsenal of recipes.

Rob Stott: No, it’s a fun time and exciting to see, like I said, you guys on the floor and the engagement within the booth. Flashy lights, too, on those grills, man.

Andrew Feldman: Yeah, change it up a little bit.

Rob Stott: It’s cool. I like it.

So no, we appreciate you being here and showing everything off and helping our members get into this space.

Andrew Feldman: Thanks for having me, man.

Rob Stott: Yeah, appreciate it. And we’ll see you out there again.

Andrew Feldman: All right, buddy.

Rob Stott: All right.

Andrew Feldman: Thanks, dude.