Are disposable barbecues finally burning out for good?

Have disposable barbecues had their time in the sun? Last summer all major retailers stopped selling them in the wake of calls for a ban from the London Fire Brigade, which had one of its busiest-ever weeks of fighting fires.

It’s a call London Fire Brigade commissioner Andy Roe repeated to the London Assembly in February. According to the Home Office, disposable grills are responsible for 4% of serious accidental blazes. And supermarkets have also pointed to environmental concerns.

Aldi was the first to drop disposables, promising the move would eliminate about 35 tonnes of single-use plastic.

Its corporate responsibility director Liz Fox suggested “as an alternative, we would encourage customers to opt for more environmentally friendly and sustainable options such as mini portable barbecues”.

The budget retailer has no plans to reverse its stance this year. And the same goes for Waitrose.

“We won’t be reversing the ban on disposable barbecues as we believe in preserving our local ecosystems and they present a risk to our natural habitats,” says Emma Hill, gardening buyer at JLP.

British BBQ Association president Ben Bartlett reckons these bans will have little effect on the popularity of the overall barbecue occasion.

“Disposable barbecues are a very small amount of the market – probably less than 5%,” he says. “And in lockdown we had fantastic weather and people spent a lot of money on their gardens, including on better barbecues. So they’ve been getting out and using those.”

Bartlett believes ceramic grills could be the next big thing in barbecues. They’re becoming more popular as prices come down, and their makers claim they retain heat better than some of the alternatives.

But despite the moves towards more permanent grills, Caroline Morris, sales head at Rectella – which owns BBQ equipment specialist Bar-Be-Quick– argues instant barbecues deserve a place in the retail mix.

“With more people now working from home, consumers are turning to instant barbecues as an affordable treat. We are expecting 2023 to see an uplift in sales, primarily due to consumers seeking affordable ways to celebrate family occasions while household incomes drop.”