Another Write Up that produced a full day of calls:

EZ Grill takes U.S. market by storm
Sep 14, 2009

After an eye-opening experience at a barbecue in his native England, entrepreneur Phillip Swan
made the decision to bring EZ Grill – an innovative cooking concept – to America, according to
Fortune Small Business.

Instead of using a propane grill to cook up the burgers and hot dogs, a guest brought a portable
grill to the party, piquing Swan’s interest in the concept.

“I basically used his $3,000 stainless-steel grill as a stand for the disposable ones,” Swan told
FSB.

Upon his return to Kirkland, Wash., Swan did some research and found that disposable grills hadtaken more than 50 percent of the market share from charcoal grills in Australia and the UnitedKingdom, as well as countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Swan’s EZ Grill is available in two sizes and provides about 90 minutes of cooking time. The
charcoal is made from rice and wheat husks, and its packaging and aluminum base are recyclable. On the EZ Grill Web site, the grills retail for about $20 for two grills, but individual
grills sell for between $4.99 and $9.99.

Speaking with DailyVista, Swan provided further details on his plans for growing the EZ Grill
brand stateside. Swan said that the idea for EZ Grill took six months from concept to initial samples. The company found a way to make the EZ Grill’s charcoal free of additives like lime, sulfur and borax, and made the product of a higher quality than that of previous portable grill attempts in the U.S. “We saw a product in the U.K. and figured out a way to make it better by making it environmentally friendly at a consumer impulse price...” he said. “The previous products that had tried to enter the U.S. market were of inferior quality and had additives and fillers in it and did not perform well, so the consumer did not like them.”

One of the biggest highlights for Swan was the rapidity in which the company was able to work
with its factory to find the winning formula for EZ Grill. “Our biggest challenge is scaling without adding headcount,” Swan said. “With my high tech background, we have built up an IT infrastructure that gives us the ability to track grains of carbon to finished product in the consumer’s hands.” He added that the company’s ever-evolving automated business processes allows the company to stay competitive while also being able to serve big box retailers, regional stores as well as small, local convenience stores.

Swan said that the strategy in building awareness for EZ Grill is fairly simple, but the company
has a large advertising and marketing budget for the next 12 months, and expects a “significant’
ongoing effort to maintain and build awareness.

“I like keeping things simple, as I then can personally understand it!” he said, adding that with
about 80 percent of all grocery shopping done by women, this makes up the core demographic
for EZ Grill’s brand awareness efforts. “She sees the grill and recognizes convenience and ease-of-use. She is buying with family cooking or eating events in mind, whether for backyard or beach/park or camping scenarios,” he said. According to Swan, EZ Grill will host events beginning in October, demonstrating the grills at instore or sporting events in major cities across the country.

He expects the EZ Grill brand to grow significantly, as the product has very broad appeal and is
simple to use as well. “As much as we hate this bad economy, it actually plays well for us,” Swan said. “This is priced as an impulse buy for people who are saving money with staycations. We are also planning on new product introductions, keeping our core Earth-friendly high performing grilling products in mind at an impulse price.”

Swan said that the company is focused on a comprehensive national distribution chain in retail.
In 10 weeks the company has already picked up distribution in 23,000 stores nationally, including Walmart, Safeway and 7-Eleven. “We are looking to at least double that number in 2010, if not more,” he said.

Swan said that Western Creative of Redford, Mich., is its agency of record for media and Web,
and the company does all of its packaging and logo design work in-house.