• Gütersloh domestic appliance company takes 75.1% stake in premium gas grill specialist

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

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 markets together with immediate effect: 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 internationalisation is on the joint agenda.

Otto Wilde was founded in 2015 in Düsseldorf. The eponym and technical brain is the mining engineer and ex-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.

Revolutionising 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 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. In 2020, the company was able to further expand its market presence and currently employs 30 people. Executive Management is shared by Alexander Luik (Marketing) and Nils Wilde (Technology). Products are currently manufactured by partners in Germany and China.

'Even during our first contacts, we were impressed by the pioneering spirit at Otto Wilde Grillers, by the innovative nature of their products and their loving attention to detail', says Gernot Trettenbrein, Senior Vice President of the business unit 'New Growth Factory' at Miele. The global player steeped in tradition and the agile start-up complement each other perfectly and are together capable of achieving great things, Trettenbrein continues. 'We are looking forward to hitting the ground running and putting our joint innovation and growth plans into action'.

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 Trettenbrein. 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. These already include the gourmet delivery service MChef, the vertical farming specialist Agrilution and the KptnCook recipe app.

'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 worldwide market presence, not least with a view to the future internationalisation 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'.

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 revolutionising the global 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 gimmickry.