Keveri Fires unique outdoor cooking experience

While the outdoor cooking space becomes more crowded and technologically advanced, it is good to know that some manufacturers are still committed to creating a unique barbecue experience and frying enthusiasts – without all fuss. Enter the Kever Grills and their multi -purpose coal oven, a sleek and simple outdoor pot capable of low and slow smoking, burning a hot stroke and everything in the middle.

How did Kever bring their unique vision to life? How do they remain competitive in the face of the displacement of consumer tendencies and supply chain interruptions? I had a chance to capture Antonio Montes, founder and CEO to learn more in this exclusive Q&A.

What was the initial inspiration for creating Kever? How did you take those first steps to put it into production?

Montes: I have been passionate about frying and cooking with fire since I was 5 years old. In the days of the week, you will smoke various meat cuts in the Spanish yard in the city and on weekends, I will cook open fire “Patagonian style” with my family on our farm. When I started thinking about bringing to life a product that was versatile for home chefs who like cooking outside, I wanted to create something very easy to use, which allows you to cook food anywhere. One day you may want to smoke a bracelet or pork butt as they do in central Texas and another day you may want to cook a Patagonian -style lamb, grilled fish -inspired fish, Napolitan -style pizza or a beautiful Paella from Spain. To achieve this, I had to create a product that had numerous grill ways, different levels of shelf and with a large range of temperature.

Kind what kind of technology is used during the R&D process? Did it take a lot of time to complete that first prototype?

One of the biggest challenges was the design of a home use product that was inspired by many other appliances: wooden ovens, coal grill, pizza ovens, high temperature coal ovens and isolated smokers. We wanted to build the most efficient coal device, where you can rely on a low amount of coal while you are able to cook at high temperatures. We achieved this goal by studying commercial smelter furnaces with the help of engineers from the mining industry in Chile.

What was the initial reception of here after it was available to customers? What do the most users enjoy about it?

We started in 2018 in Chile and the reception was extraordinary! We were selling Kever H1 from dozens after every demonstration, which, given that Chile is a small market, we knew we were on something interesting. People say they enjoy many aspects about Kever H1, such as capacity, safe to touch, firefighters, access to coal and being able to cook new recipes continuously, but the first will always be mixing between versatility and ease of use. We have Michelin chefs who love our product, but most of our customers are regular people who learn and experiment with their H1 together with us. I have found that the ability to create a new device without restrictions that is easy to use with the help of guidance has been the key to our success so far.

As a small and medium business, what are some of the challenges that bring your product to the American retailer?

Time I have learned in the SH.BA that you have to gain confidence, which takes time, and time is money! You have to be physically there to tell people you are honest, that you have to spend time with retailers and their teams so that they understand how the product works, and prove that your product is as good as everyone says. They also need to know that if there is a problem, you are available to solve it with them. I like to think we’re doing things in the right way by not cutting the corners, and it shows from us by adding more retailers and distributors every month.

How do you manage the challenges of the supply chain (like what happened during Covid) and deal with increasing material costs?

We are a small company that cannot compromise on quality. Rundo Production execution has been improved with suggestions from our customers, the material and specifications we use are carefully selected for each part, and we strive to achieve the standard of the highest quality possible every time. Knowing they are our advantages, it was never an opportunity to compromise the quality of the price to be able to fight those price raises. We raised prices to the minimum possible to maintain a healthy business difference, and we had to find new ways to do business that allowed us to get the product to our customers more efficiently. Growing up with distributors and centralizing transport was essential for achieving these goals.

Are you happy with the brand growth to date? What have you planned for the future? More equipment or maybe even new products you are developing?

I am very happy with the results so far and we have enjoyed and learned throughout the process. We are collaborating with excellent brands in the US, and we are growing our community every day. We are creating more content so that people can learn more about our products and how to use them. At the same time, and my favorite thing from all is that we are developing new products that will help cooking fanatics all over the world. Stay arranged with what we came next.