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Grilling Season Purchasing Statistics: Buying, Food and Outdoor Kitchens

Survey and panel findings on grill ownership, shopping, barbecue food, fuel choices and outdoor kitchen plans.

November 12, 2026 6 min read khillbbqcompany.com Editorial Team

Contents

Grilling season purchasing statistics: German grill purchases and ownership

German household purchases and survey-reported ownership describe different parts of the market. YouGov’s household panel estimated that nearly 6% of private households in Germany bought at least 1 new grill in 2025, representing more than 2.4 million buyer households. Among households purchasing through a DIY or home-improvement store, more than 1.1 million used that channel, and their average spend on a new grill was nearly €200. These are household purchase estimates for 2025, distinct from the later ownership survey. Source: YouGov, “Grillsaison-Bilanz 2026”

In a separate YouGov Omnibus survey representative of German residents aged 18 and older, fielded July 8–10, 2026, 71% said they owned at least 1 grill appliance. By type, 49% reported owning a charcoal grill, 35% a gas grill and 30% an electric grill. These type percentages can overlap because respondents could own more than 1 kind of appliance; they should not be read as mutually exclusive market shares. Source: YouGov, “Grillsaison-Bilanz 2026”

Grill ownership by residenceCharcoal grillGas grillElectric grill
Rural respondents55%40%24%
Urban respondents43%28%38%

The rural and urban figures are ownership shares within each residential group. Charcoal and gas ownership were higher among rural respondents in this comparison, while electric-grill ownership was higher among urban respondents. The figures describe reported ownership, not purchases or usage frequency. Source: YouGov, “Grillsaison-Bilanz 2026”

Grilling season purchasing statistics: grilling shopping channels and product choices

A 2025 Breaktime Media shopper survey points to grocery shopping as the most frequently named channel for grilling necessities: 52% said they went to grocery stores. Walmart was named by 21%, while 16% went to a local club store. The article does not disclose the survey’s field dates, sample size or detailed respondent population, so these percentages are best treated as the published survey’s channel answers rather than a representative estimate for a defined national population. Source: Breaktime Media, “2025 Grilling Season Infographic”

The same survey asked about cookout necessities beyond protein. Buns and bread were prioritized by 22% of shoppers, beverages by 19%, snacks and chips by 18%, and charcoal and propane by 17%. These are stated shopping priorities, not receipts or category sales. Source: Breaktime Media, “2025 Grilling Season Infographic”

When choosing grilling products, 32% named flavor as the most important factor. Cost appeared among the top considerations for 28%, brand trust for 10%, and clean ingredients for 7%. The source does not provide the question wording or indicate whether respondents could select multiple factors, so the percentages should be read as reported answers without assuming the choices sum to 100%. Source: Breaktime Media, “2025 Grilling Season Infographic”

The survey also asked what people grill most often. Burgers led at 40%, followed by steaks at 20% and chicken at 18%. This describes the most-often-grilled food respondents named, not the share of all grilling occasions or food purchases. Source: Breaktime Media, “2025 Grilling Season Infographic”

Grilling season purchasing statistics: seasonal barbecue food purchases and spending

UK panel data shows the scale of cooking-from-scratch barbecue occasions in the 16 weeks to September 6, 2026: 69.5 million. For summer 2026, the average spend on a barbecue main meal was £5.10, compared with £2.71 for an average main meal. The comparison concerns meal spending in the UK and does not establish why the amounts differed. Source: AHDB, “Too hot to BBQ? How consumers adapted to a scorching summer 2026”

AHDB’s summer meat, fish and poultry (MFP) category covers beef, lamb, pork and chicken cuts, including sausages, burgers, steaks, rubs, marinades and wings, legs and thighs. MFP volumes grew over the 16 weeks ending September 6, 2026. The source attributes the growth pattern across shopping behavior to shoppers buying 1.6% more per trip year over year, shopping 0.3% more often and making 13.3% greater use of promotions. These are separate reported contributors; they do not quantify the contribution of each to total volume growth. Source: AHDB, “Too hot to BBQ? How consumers adapted to a scorching summer 2026”

UK summer 2026 category measureReported change year over year
Beef summer-cut volumes+11.5%
Total MFP burger volumes+9.7%
Pig-meat summer-cut sales−2.5%
Lamb volumes−3.9%
Chicken volumes+1.9%
Chicken wings, legs and thighs volumes+2.1%

The measures show variation across proteins and cuts during summer 2026. AHDB said burger growth was driven largely by beef burgers. Lamb kebabs, which sit outside the core summer MFP category, recorded a separate 27.5% year-over-year volume increase. Keeping that separate matters: it is not part of the lamb MFP volume decline shown above. Source: AHDB, “Too hot to BBQ? How consumers adapted to a scorching summer 2026”

The UK value tier of summer MFP products grew 13.4% in summer 2026. That tier result sits alongside the category and protein measures, but the source does not establish from these figures alone that shoppers switched products or that price drove the change. The reported numbers describe volume movements and shopping behavior over the stated period. Source: AHDB, “Too hot to BBQ? How consumers adapted to a scorching summer 2026”

Grilling season purchasing statistics: fuel preferences and buying research

An HPBA study of mid-to-high-end grill owners in the United States and Canada, conducted in October 2022, found that 61% used propane grills and 59% used charcoal or wood grills. Looking ahead to their next premium grill, 67% said they were interested in both fuel types. Since owners may use more than 1 grill or fuel, the usage shares are not mutually exclusive. Source: HPBA, “Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Shares Insights for July’s National Grilling Month”

For wood-pellet grill users in the same study, hickory and pellet blends were each selected as top fuel choices by 20%; mesquite was selected by 17%. Across consumers surveyed, 18% said they bought grilling fuel from barbecue specialty retailers. The release does not provide a more detailed breakdown of other fuel retailers in the checked findings. Source: HPBA, “Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Shares Insights for July’s National Grilling Month”

Research was common among premium grill buyers: 55% said they conducted thorough research before buying. Among those buyers who researched, 87% browsed in-store and 69% explored online. These channel percentages apply only to the subgroup who researched, rather than to all grill buyers; they may also overlap because a shopper can investigate both in person and online. The study’s fieldwork was in October 2022, so these figures should not be treated as a new 2025 survey result. Source: HPBA, “Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Shares Insights for July’s National Grilling Month”

Grilling season purchasing statistics: outdoor kitchen investments and planned upgrades

In the October 2022 HPBA study, 35% of respondents reported having an outdoor kitchen. Among reported outdoor kitchens, 98% included a grill. Premium grill owners reported an average outdoor-kitchen investment of $10,600. The average is specific to premium grill owners in the United States and Canada study; it is not an estimate for all households or a typical standalone grill purchase. Source: HPBA, “Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Shares Insights for July’s National Grilling Month”

Plans for improvements were also reported. Among homeowners surveyed, 63% said they planned to improve their outdoor kitchen. Within the improvement plans reported, 54% mentioned adding or upgrading outdoor furniture, 36% mentioned enhancing landscaping, and 35% mentioned making changes to a patio or deck. The listed actions can overlap, and their percentages refer to planned improvements rather than completed projects. Source: HPBA, “Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Shares Insights for July’s National Grilling Month”

Sources

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