Lawsuit claims Traeger Grills misleads customers about wood in pellets
Bill Poehler
Like a lot of barbecue enthusiasts, Michael Yates was curious how his food would taste if he cooked it on a Traeger Pellet Grill.
He got a grill, bought three bags of Traeger brand Mesquite BBQ Pellets and two bags of the company’s Texas Beef Wood Pellets and started grilling at home in Livermore, Calif.
When he tasted it, however, something tasted strange.
Yates is now at the center of a class-action lawsuit against Utah-based Traeger Grills, which was founded in Mt. Angel, alleging it is deceiving customers by selling wood pellets that are not entirely made up of the types of wood on their packaging.
The lawsuit, filed in Utah District Court Oct. 1, alleges Traeger Grills uses less-expensive types of wood in producing the pellets it sells under the Traeger brand, but flavors the wood by using oils.
Attorneys for Yates did not return calls seeking comment. A public relations firm for Traeger Grills said the company would not comment on pending litigation.
The suit does not specify the amount of damages it seeks, but alleges the value is over $5 million.
Traeger is currently involved in separate lawsuits in Arizona and Florida against a rival barbecue company involving trademark infringement.
Injunction:Traeger Grills wins preliminary injunction preventing Joe Traeger from appearing in ads
The Utah class-action suit alleges Traeger sells 14 different types of wood and wood combinations in the pellets it sells under the Traeger brand.
The suit alleges Yates and others who purchased the wood pellets were injured and lost money.
The proposed class action seeks to represent every person who purchased Traeger pellets after Oct. 1, 2015. The suit says it believes over a million people are potentially members of the class.
The class action has yet to be certified.
According to the lawsuit, when Yates contacted the customer service department of Traeger Grills he was informed the Mesquite pellets did not contain any mesquite wood and the Texas Beef Blend pellets were not entirely made of oak, mesquite and pecan wood.
The pellets sold under the Traeger brand state “All Natural Harwood” on the packaging, but does not state the advertised flavor of wood is used in the making of the pellets
“Thus, for example, a reasonable consumer would understand that Defendant’s Mesquite BBQ Wood Pellets primarily consist of – if not entirely consist of – mesquite wood,” according to the lawsuit.
It alleges the apple, cherry and pecan pellets Traeger sells contain less than 1/3 of the advertised wood while the mesquite and hickory do not contain any of the advertised wood.
The Oak and Alder pellets contain varying amounts of the advertised wood depending on where they are manufactured, according to the suit.
In Traeger’s advertising, it says it uses “100% natural, food-grade hardwood” in its pellets, which are manufactured at five mills it owns in the United States. It states it uses a small amount of food-grade soybean oil, which acts as a lubricant for its grills, in the pellets.
Traeger has used its same production process the past 16 years, according to the company.
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“At the beginning of this year, prior to this lawsuit, we proactively made some changes to our packaging and are working to update our marketing materials to better communicate with our valued community,” a public relations representative for Traeger Grills said in an email.
Joe Traeger of Mt. Angel developed the first pellet grill in 1985 and patented it in 1986. The Traeger family sold Traeger Pellet Grills to a venture capitalist in Florida in 2006 for $12.4 million.
The company was purchased by current CEO Jeremy Andrus and private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners in 2014 and moved its headquarters to Utah from Oregon in 2015.
In July, Traeger Pellet Grills sued rival Dansons in district courts in Florida and Arizona alleging unfair trade practices by using Joe Traeger and son Brian Traeger in advertising and social media for their company.
In September, preliminary injunctions were granted in both jurisdictions preventing the Traegers from being used in advertising or making public appearances for Dansons, for which they now work.
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bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler
