One trend that’s popping up with outdoor cooking companies is entering the modular outdoor kitchen space. Grilla Grills has been expanding and featuring their line, and Blackstone entered the market this year. Char-Broil has had a modular outdoor kitchen line for a little while, but it appears to be more of a focus recently.
Modular Outdoor Kitchen
For those not familiar with what a modular outdoor kitchen is, it’s an outdoor kitchen that you can piece together without needing a contractor and major construction. You may just need to hire somebody for utility hook-ups if you want a clean install. It’s almost like an Ikea kitchen, but for the outdoors.
While outdoor cooking companies are focusing more on the category, it’s a segment that has existed through other retailers. A good example is RTA Outdoor Living, which was founded in 2017 to make outdoor kitchens more accessible. Now, some outdoor cooking companies are looking to sell direct to consumers.
Outdoor Kitchen Planner
As part of Char-Broil’s effort to sell their modular outdoor kitchen line, they’ve added an outdoor kitchen planner to their website. It allows your to build your dream outdoor kitchen from the wide range of products that Char-Broil sells.
You can start with basic pre-created layouts or start from scratch. It will give you the measurements of the kitchen, the price, and you can add the whole thing to your cart. You even have the ability to view the kitchen in your space by scanning a QR code with your camera app.
While the interface isn’t as advanced as some of the outdoor living retailers, it gets the job done. Char-Broil is also the first grill manufacturer that we’ve seen add this functionality to their website. For other manufacturers you have to piece your outdoor kitchen design together on your own.