Miele pulls the ripcord on "Otto Wilde Grillers"

The family-owned company is temporarily halting production of the high-tech G32 grill. Anyone who has already pre-ordered will have to wait until 2022. What's going on?

The G32 high-tech grill from the Düsseldorf start-up "Otto Wilde Grillers" was supposed to be the flagship and bestseller. A grill that could be controlled via smartphone. The idea was so good that the family business Miele secured a majority stake in the company in the spring.

Now, however, Miele has apparently had to pull the ripcord and stop production of the high-tech grill for the time being, as reported by the Rheinische Post . Apparently, the grill needs to be improved in several areas, for example to prevent the "control elements from overheating under extreme conditions", according to the report. This is because the grill from series production probably does not meet Miele's standards, as the RP writes.

For the start-up's fans, who gave the young company around five million euros via crowdfunding on Kickstarter just a year ago, this means long waiting times. Their investment of 999 euros was supposed to get them a grill in the fall of 2020, but now it might not be until spring 2022 - at the earliest.

Miele and Otto Wilder Grillers cite the coronavirus pandemic as the reason, which has made production difficult, especially in Asia. Secondly, the huge interest from the Kickstarter community simply overwhelmed the young start-up.