Alfresco in Bed with Viking
Submitted by advisor on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 12:56pm.
Alfresco BBQ has switched nearly all of its distribution to Viking's distributors, effective January 1, 2012. One should assume that Viking was not surprised by the move.
The important question: did Viking approve Alfresco's addition willingly or under duress.
Since there is no evidence (yet), that Viking has acquired Alfresco, and since Viking is known for an exhaustive suite of BBQ skus, how does Alfresco fit the Viking plan?
Some suggested motives:
-Distribution is not happy with the drop off in sales since 2008, and this is the bone that Viking has thrown to them.
-Alfresco is a lower price point, so not expected to canibalize Viking BBQ sales.
The wholesale change in distribution demonstrates that Viking still has a firm, if not an iron grip on its distributors.
If distributors start adding brands willy nilly, then you will know that Viking is no longer calling the shots.
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Wow !!!
Alfresco makes one of the better grills and has some weight behind it with Steve Bernstein and his family. I think that they make the best looking and performing grill along with Lynx. If Viking were to purchase them I would hope they would leave the design and style alone along with product performance.
Not going to happen
Not that this wouldn't make me happy, but I can tell you that this is not going to happen. I'm 99% sure that this is the decision of the distributors...not Viking. I may be completely wrong, but I don’t think that Viking is in a position to acquire anyone that this point. So, take that for what you will, but I say that this is false.