Traeger Grills, best known for its wood-pellet grills, announced today that it has acquired wireless meat thermometer company MEATER. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and according to the press announcement, MEATER will continue to operate as a standalone company within Traeger Grills and Joseph Cruz will continue as MEATER’s Chief Executive Officer.
MEATER, which came out of Apption Labs, makes wireless Bluetooth and WiFi connected thermometers ($69 – $269, depending on the model) and an accompanying mobile app to give users continuous monitoring and guided cooking instructions. Stick the MEATER into your protein, select the type of protein that you’re cooking and the thermometer gives you real-time tracking of internal and ambient temperatures. Once the food hits the target internal temperature, the MEATER app sends you an alert to pull your protein out of the heat and tells you how long to let it rest.
Traeger has its WiFIRE connected wood pellet grills also provides users with similar monitoring and target temperature functionality through a mobile app (and Apple Watch!). But unlike with MEATER, you can control the heat of the grill remotely to make adjustments to your cooking wherever you are in your home.
Despite similar features, it’s easy to see why the MEATER acquisition makes sense for Traeger. The MEATER software and user experience is more robust and visually appealing than Traeger’s homegrown app. And with MEATER, Traeger will now be able to expand its market beyond just those who own Traeger grills and beyond grilling season. Traeger can integrate its brand into the MEATER software and play a part in people cooking proteins on any type of grill, as well as their stoves and ovens when the weather turns cold.
Traeger acquiring MEATER can also been seen as a response to Weber buying smart oven maker June at the beginning of this year, as the two companies look to modernize in this connected era. The first line of June-integrated Weber grills announced in February of this year featured real-time temperature monitoring and guidance both on a grill display and on a mobile app. It’s not hard to imagine that future versions of Weber/June grills will feature the ability to automatically or remotely control cooking temperatures as well.
In other words, with both of these acquisitions, next summer will be definitely be hot for new, smart grills.
Leave a Reply