Skip to main content

Whirlpool acquires Yummly to make a smarter kitchen

whirlpool yummly 6 4 cu  ft combination wall oven p150072 22z
Image used with permission by copyright holder
In kitchens of today, a fridge or a toaster can have more computing power than early cell phones. Appliances are getting smarter, which means cooking and shopping for food is getting more convenient.

Whirlpool, well known for its kitchen and home appliances, has been on a mission to bring purposeful, relevant innovations into the fast-growing market of smart tech. As part of said mission, Whirlpool has announced their plans to acquire Yummly.

Recommended Videos

“We are committed to introducing new products to market that remove complexity from the day-to-day lives of consumers,” said Brett Dibkey, vice president of Integrated Business Units for Whirlpool Corporation. “Increasingly, these products will be defined by both physical and digital experiences. Yummly brings an outstanding platform on which to begin building our digital product offering,”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Founded in 2009, Yummly is a leading digital platform for personalized recipes and cooking resources. Through the mobile app or on the web, users can find handy tools, videos, and more. Using patented technology and proprietary data, Yummly understands food and taste so it can offer the best recipes for a specific taste preference.

Whirlpool is already a leader in building a connected kitchen. Millions of people around the world use Whirlpool appliances each day to prepare meals. With the Yummly acquisition, Whirlpool hopes dramatically reduce the stress of meal planning. Their goal is to help answer the question, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

“We are extremely excited about the opportunities and innovations we can create with Whirlpool Corporation,” said Brian Witlin, CEO of Yummly. “Whirlpool’s purposeful and consumer-centric approach to innovation aligns perfectly with what we do, who we are, and what we seek to create for consumers as the kitchen becomes ever-more digitally connected.”

The transaction is expected to finalize sometime in May 2017. Yummly will continue to operate out of its current headquarters in Redwood City, California as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Garrett Hulfish
Garrett is the kind of guy who tells you about all the tech you haven't heard of yet. He also knows too much about other…
Toasting … for dummies? Who really needs a smart toaster
Tineco Toasty One on counter with fresh toast.

All kinds of gadgets have added smarts: smart water bottles that track how much you drink to monitor hydration, and even self-cleaning smart toilets that can even detect signs of disease. In the kitchen, we also have cooking robots that can autonomously perform all the tasks needed to make a meal (up to and including cleaning themselves), and smart faucets that can measure precise amounts of water for baking and cooking and operate entirely hands free. But what are we to make of a smart toaster?
Alongside boiling water and making Jell-O, using a toaster ranks as one of the simpler kitchen tasks. So, why would we need to make that more autonomous, or “smart”?
Is a smart toaster worth it?

The truth is we don’t need smarter toasters, but a smart toaster, like a smart water bottle, does have its merits.

Read more
How to build a smart kitchen
A smart kitchen.

Planning a kitchen remodel or renovation is a big step. Along with thinking about what material to use for new counters and cabinet colors, it’s a good time to consider what technology you want in your kitchen, too. A renovation is the perfect time to build a smart kitchen with all the connected technology that you’ve been wanting. Interested? Here’s what to consider and why.
Think about what you cook in the kitchen
Smart technology works best when it's applied to something that you’re already doing every day. Before you start looking at appliances (and they all don't have to be from the same brand), think about how you use your kitchen. What sort of meals do you cook most often? Do you use the stovetop the most, or the oven for baking, or the microwave? Are you more of a slow cooker chef? Considering these things now will help you make the right decisions later. Once you know what you use the most, use that information to inform your budget and how you'll spend it. Then, we can move on to the fun stuff!
Choose a smart home platform you like

You may also want to take a look at the apps offered by major kitchen brands like LG, Samsung, and others to see if there’s a particular app design or compatibility feature you want. For example, you may want to make sure that your appliances work with a certain voice assistant like Alexa. We also suggest getting appliances that are sure to work with the new universal smart home protocol Matter, which makes it easier to control them with an app of your choice.
Shop for a connected smart oven

Read more
Big smart home growth predicted: These are the appliances and features we’d like to see
HGTV Smart Home 2022 in Wilmington, NC.

Did you buy a smart home gadget in the last year? If you did, you’re part of a growing trend. The embracing of smart home technology is rising fast.
According to just one study, “The global smart home market is expected to grow from $99.89 billion in 2021 to $380.52 billion in 2028.” That’s a lot more smart speakers, wireless home alarms, smart plugs, and Wi-Fi-connected lights than ever before, and the smart kitchen segment of that market is set to grow by about 25% between now and 2023.

So what’s driving this heightened interest in the smart home, and what are we consumers looking for when we consider spending our hard-earned incomes on new smart home devices?
What's driving the smart home? Security
We all want to feel safe in our homes and security is a core need in society. Whether we’ve got an eye to protecting a 75-inch OLED TV and full surround sound system, or we want to ensure our Google Nest Audio doesn’t walk away while we’re at work, everyone has stuff they want to protect. Increasingly, that’s translating to smart, do-it-yourself home security systems and remote wireless cameras.

Read more