Miele and Otto Wilde to jointly tap the barbecue and outdoor kitchen market

> The joint objective is to offer a high-end and finely tuned range of outdoor lifestyle products for the most discerning

Gütersloh/Düsseldorf, March 17, 2022. – An increasing circle of people are showing an avid interest in cooking challenging dishes out in the fresh air – and are investing in high-end barbecue grills or even complete outdoor kitchens. Both companies intend to tackle this high-potential market in the US together: Otto Wilde will contribute its expertise in the field of innovative high-end grills and accessories. Miele, for its part, brings many years of know-how in the development, production, connectivity and marketing of premium built-in appliances worldwide to the table. Alongside expanding the product portfolio, further international expansion is on the joint agenda.

Otto Wilde was founded in 2015 in Düsseldorf. The eponym and technical brain is a mining engineer and former CEO of a machine construction company, Ulrich Otto Wilde, who built up the start-up with his son Nils, daughter-in-law Julia, and Alexander Luik. Luik studied together with Nils Wilde and is a long-standing friend of the family. They are all united by their enthusiasm for good food – and the fact that they lived for a time in the USA and learned there how a perfect steak must taste. Executive Management is shared by Alexander Luik (Marketing) and Nils Wilde (Technology). The products are currently manufactured by partners in Germany and China.

Revolutionizing cooking and outdoor grilling was the common vision of the quartet, and, indeed, the company already counts among Germany's most innovative manufacturers of grills. One of their flagship products is the highly versatile top-heat O.F.B grill, with infinitely adjustable temperatures up to 1500°F (900°C) – for top-class results on meat and poultry in all their variations as well as sea food, grilled vegetables and even desserts. This product won the German Design Award 2018, followed by the Iconic Award 2019. In the pipeline at Otto Wilde is a highly innovative gas grill, based on the G32 platform, which, with the aid of modules, can be easily extended into a complete outdoor kitchen. The delivery of the G32-Connected is planned for the second quarter in Germany – after Otto Wilde and Miele jointly announced that the delivery of the G32 Connected would only start after the turn of the year to allow for final work to optimise quality and user convenience. In the US market, the delivery to pre-order customers will follow as soon as all relevant certificates are obtained. “

New business field with the promise of great synergies
For Miele, its stake in Otto Wilde Grillers represents a first foothold in the growing future market of outdoor cooking which adds potential synergies to Miele's core competencies in the field of ambitious cooking and stylish pleasure. 'We have therefore defined outdoor cooking as an additional business segment within the Miele Group which we intend to establish and expand with determination', says Gernot Trettenbrein, Senior Vice President of the business unit 'New Growth Factory' at Miele. The necessary activities will be bundled within the New Growth Factory, set up at the beginning of this year to ply promising new growth fields outside Miele's core business area. 'With its technical excellence in the field of premium built-in kitchen appliances, Miele is in a position to make valuable contributions towards expanding our portfolio', says Nils Wilde. Further benefits accrue from the domestic appliance manufacturer's market presence, not least with a view to the future international expansion of the Otto Wilde product range. Alexander Luik agrees: 'We are very pleased at having found a strong and reliable partner in Miele, a partner who shares our philosophy of perfection and premium aspirations and can support us in many ways'.

USA second most important sales market for Otto Wilde
For Otto Wilde, the US market is the most important sales area next to Germany. "We have already been active in the USA for several years and our top-heat O.F.B grill enjoys great popularity," says Luik. In order to respond the needs of American customers with a stronger presence in the US market, Otto Wilde has been able to gain a new Head of US Business in Casey Sellers. “With Casey, we are pleased to have an experienced expert at our side who will support us in developing the demanding American market”, stated Luik. Sellers brings in-depth experience with introducing a scaling a premium brand and products within the US. He was part of the origin team with YETI Coolers and was instrumental in B2B sales growth and marketing with the company. During his several years with YETI he aided in building out a scalable foundation for sustainable growth it’s wholesale partner channel including new business growth and sell through strategies. Sellers also has in-depth knowledge of successfully increasing brand penetration into new and developing consumer markets.

Media contact - Miele Group
Carsten Nagel
Phone.: +49 5241 89-1009
Email: carsten.nagel@miele.com

Media contact - Otto Wilde Grillers
Alexander Luik
Phone: +49 211 54213030
Email: alexander.luik@ottowilde.de

About Miele: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. Their product portfolio also includes dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). Founded in 1899, the company has eight production plants in Germany, one each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Romania and Poland as well as two production plants belonging to its Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco. Sales in the 2020 business year amounted to around € 4.5 bn (thereof 29.5% in Germany). Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries/regions. Throughout the world, the family-run enterprise, now in its fourth generation, employs a workforce of around 20,900, of which approx. 11,050 employees work in Germany. The company has its headquarters in Gütersloh in Westphalia.

About Otto Wilde: Otto Wilde is a young and fast-growing company with around 30 employees, with the aim of revolutionizing the barbecue market with its special grills. Otto Wilde enables outdoor grilling fans to set new standards in terms of taste and the perfection of results, to share experiences with a community devoted to grilling and to take their skills to the next level with recipes, insights, and step-by-step instructions. Products from Otto Wilde excel in terms of their exceptional quality and award-winning design – without gimmicks.

There is one photograph with this text
Photo: The modular outdoor kitchen from Otto Wilde with the G32 gas grill and the O.F.B. top heat grill for maximum grilling pleasure in a cozy atmosphere. (Photo: Otto Wilde Grillers)