Luxury Appliance Maker Kenyon Seeks to Grow its RV Footprint – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
CLINTON, Conn. – RV kitchens are night and day compared to just a decade ago. OEMs today offer residential appliances and elaborate outdoor kitchens. Hoping to capitalize on this trend, Kenyon International – an iconic name in the marine and yachting industry—is now set to make waves in the land-yacht field.
Headquartered near Long Island Sound, Kenyon has a rich 70-year history and has been a dominant force in the marine industry. The company aims to bring the same excellence and innovation to the RV market with its high-quality radiant and induction cooktops and electric grills. To spur this growth, the company is adding an Elkhart-based sales associate to service RV OEMs and nurture aftermarket sales through RV dealerships.
“Our products are made differently than those from your other residential manufacturers,” Kenyon President Phil Williams told RVBusiness. We build ours to withstand the rigors of being installed in a boat and coming off a big wave with all the pounding. The same goes for bouncing along some of the rough roads in this country in your motorhome or trailer.”
Williams emphasized that while a typical household product may deteriorate in a boat within a year or two, Kenyon’s appliances are built to endure. “We maintain the same rigorous production standards for the RV market as we do for the marine. Yes, building this way may cost a little more, but we deliver exceptional quality at a fair price. This approach has proven to be a highly successful business strategy.”
While Kenyon is not a widely recognized brand among RVers, its products can be found in high-end models from Tiffin and Newmar and many Prevost bus conversions. The company believes it can expand its market share with growing-in-popularity radiant and induction cooktops.
According to Williams, its line of electric grills offers enormous opportunities for OEMs to create the ultimate outdoor kitchen and for dealer aftermarket sales.
“The grills are very energy efficient. They are all electric and originally designed for the marine industry to eliminate the danger of an open flame on board. Another feature of our grills is that the grate wraps around the electric heating element, so none of the drippings from your food touches the element. The result is no smoke and no flare-ups. Also, you get immediate heat transfer and faster time to cooking with temperatures up to 550 degrees because the heating element is in direct contact with the grate.”
Kenyon offers built-in and three portable models—the compact City Grill, the larger G2, and the top-of-the-line Frontier with touch-pad temperature selection. As Williams pointed out, one significant advantage is that a single Kenyon grill could replace several outdoor cooking appliances, freeing up space and reducing weight in the RV.
