Traeger Grills settles lawsuit against its founder, but suit against rival remains

Bill Poehler | Salem Statesman Journal

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The world’s largest wood pellet grill manufacturer has settled a lawsuit against its company founder over the use of his name and imagery in advertising for a rival barbecue company.

Traeger Pellet Grills reached a settlement of a Florida lawsuit Dec. 6 against company founder Joe Traeger and sons Brian and Mark Traeger, who live in and near Mt. Angel, and aspects of a similar Arizona lawsuit against rival pellet grills manufacturer Dansons, for which Joe and Brian Traeger have worked.

Under terms of the agreement, the Traeger family members and rival Dansons won’t use their names or likenesses, and the Traeger Barn in Mt. Angel in advertising and the family members will not make public appearances that communicate endorsements of Dansons and its brands.

Financial terms of the settlements were not disclosed.

“As we said from the beginning, we respect the right of the Traeger family to earn a living, so long as they do not violate their contracts with us,” Traeger Grills CEO Jeremy Andrus said in a statement.

“The settlement agreement reached today provides strong protections against the future misuse of the Traeger name, barn or likenesses to confuse consumers or promote other grills as if they were genuine Traegers.”

Building and selling a BBQ brand

Joe Traeger had worked in heating when he invented one that could use wood pellets made of compressed sawdust as fuel.

After building the first grill that used wood pellets for fuel in 1985, Traeger sold his first unit in 1988 and the fledgling company rapidly expanded.

According to court documents, the Traeger family sold the company, as well as the use of their names and images, to a Florida venture capitalist for $12.4 million in 2006.

On the suit: Lawsuit claims Traeger Grills misleads customers about wood in pellets

Traeger Grills was sold again in 2014 to private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners and the company moved its headquarters to Utah in 2015.

In 2018, Joe and Brian Traeger went to work for Dansons, a rival company based in Arizona that sells pellet smokers under the Louisiana Grills and Pit Boss brands, as independent contractors, according to the court filings.

Dansons announced their employment in September 2018 in company marketing and in March 2019 announced a new line of grills under the “Founders Series” brand, “brought to you proudly by Joe Traeger, the founder of the original pellet grill.”

Traeger Pellet Grills sent cease and desist letters to Dansons concerning the use of Joe and Brian Traeger in marketing, according to court records, but did not receive a satisfactory response.

In July, Traeger Grills sued the Traeger family members and Dansons in Arizona, where it is based, and Florida alleging the use of their likenesses and names were in violation of the purchase agreements they signed when they sold the company in 2006.

In October, district court judges in Florida and Arizona issued preliminary injunctions, barring Dansons from using the Traegers in advertising, though Dansons had removed all social media posts that included Joe and Brian Traeger and the Traeger Barn from its social media Sept. 25 and 26.

In accordance with the settlement, the Traegers will be permanently enjoined from appearing in marketing, social media or advertisements in connection with the sales of wood pellet grills.

Traeger Grills retains Traeger Barn image

The Traeger Barn has long been part of company lore.

The buildings, which include the barn, silo and feed houses on Humpert Lane in Mt. Angel, were formerly used as part of the Mt. Angel Abbey’s dairy operation, but had been dormant since the 1960s.

In 1982, Joe Traeger approached the abbey about the barn and leased it for the manufacturing site for what would become Traeger Pellet Grills.

On the front of the white building, the name “TRAEGER” was spelled out in black letters.

Traeger Pellet Grills often used images of the barn in advertising, but after the company moved its headquarters to Utah largely was unused.

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Dansons alleged that Traeger Grills didn’t use the Traeger Barn in marketing for at least three years prior to Dansons first using it on March 16, 2019.

According court documents, Dansons took over the lease of the barn and spent over $200,000 renovating it in the past few years.

In August, the “TRAEGER” lettering was removed from the front of the barn.

Joe Traeger took part in a promotional Sept. 14 event at the barn in conjunction with Mt. Angel Oktoberfest.

In accordance with the settlement, Dansons will no longer be able to use images of the Traeger Barn or the barn’s silhouette in its marketing. And the Traegers will not be able to make public appearances, such as the one in September, that demonstrate a connection with a Dansons.

Arizona and Utah lawsuits ongoing

Though Traeger Grills settled its lawsuit in Florida and aspects of its suit in Arizona, the rest of the Arizona suit – which centers around Dansons copying Traeger’s designs – continues to move forward.

That lawsuit also alleges Silverton resident George Koster stole trade secrets when he left the employ of Traeger Pellet Grills in 2015 to work for Dansons in 2017 and was involved in the design of a new vertical smoker similar to one he helped design for Traegers.

The deadline for discovery in that case is Sept. 11, 2020, settlement talks must be completed by Dec. 1, 2020 and depositions must be completed by Jan. 15, 2021, but a trial date has not been set.

“We are pleased to put these aspects of the lawsuits behind us and will continue to press forward with our remaining claims against Dansons for misappropriating our trade secrets and copying virtually every aspect of our brand,” Traeger Grills' Andrus said.

A separate proposed class action suit was filed against Traeger Pellet Grills in October in Utah has been amended to add another defendant, Norman L. Jones of Provo, Utah.

That suit alleges the company uses less-expensive types of wood in the pellets it sells under the Traeger brand, but flavors the less expensive wood by using oils.

bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler