(Editor’s note: Spark Grills has filed to liquidate its assets in a procedure akin to filing for bankruptcy called a “Assignment for the benefit of the creditors (ABC)”. You can read the full document below.)
It looks like Spark Grills has shut down.
While the company, which makes a proprietary charcoal-based grilling system, has not made any official announcement, outward signs indicate the company has all but closed up shop. Their website has stopped selling charcoal bricks and has no inventory left of its grilling systems for sale. And, according to some of the company’s customers on Reddit, Spark’s support lines have gone dark.
From one Reddit user:
When I bought my Spark in the Summer their support was top notch. However after the unit leaked grease and stained my patio (my fault for not using a grill pad, their fault for advertising no need for a grease bucket) I’ve been trying to return my unit for two months and support has gone dark. No email response, phone, or text back during biz hours.
In addition to signs that the company is no longer selling any products, its executive team looks like it has started to move on. The company CEO, Ben West, has also indicated on his Linkedin that he is “figuring out what’s next.”
It’s a bummer because the company’s technology stood out in a sea of nearly identical grilling systems with its precision charcoal heating system. Here’s how we described The Spark Grill when we first wrote about it:
The stylish grill ditches the lumps of briquets for a single, flat charcoal “Briq,” and uses a series of stoking and cooling fans for precision temperature control. The Spark is capable of getting temperatures between a low 200 degrees all the way up to a ripping hot 900 degrees. The grill also has an accompanying mobile app that lets you monitor the temperatures of your cooking cavity and the food you’re cooking.
Spark shutting down would also be extra tough for owners of the grill because the system uses a proprietary charcoal system only available from the company. However, in what could be interpreted as a sign the company may be trying to help its customers keep grilling once it closes its doors, last week it posted a video on Youtube showing how to use the Spark grill with ordinary briquette charcoal.
We’ve reached out to Spark and will update the story when we get a response.
Update: The document about Sparks liquidation is below:
I’ve been trying to reach Spark for weeks, to no success. I own a Spark Grill and have run out of “briqs” (proprietary fuel). It seems to be true that you can use regular charcoal as a fuel, but you have to remove the grates and heat shield, so it’s pretty cumbersome. I’ve had a good 18 months with my Spark grill and enjoyed using it. The biggest problem that I see with the current situation is that the company is still selling their grills on their website. So, a new customer could shell out $800+ for a grill that will be effectively useless in a few weeks when they run out of briqs. The fact that Spark is doing this, and has ghosted their current, loyal customers, should raise red flags for any company thinking of hiring former Spark executives.
I’ve had the spark grill for over 3 months, and right now the only big concern is that the probes will be useless, given that the app is out of the App Store and Google Store. New installation will require login, and I can think that the system to manage login infos will be soon shut down (if not already).
The only probe that will remain usable will be the main one , given that you can see and manage it from the knob.