The Luxury Cooler Brand With A Fishing Origin Story

When it comes to coolers, Yeti is the gold standard for millions of Americans. Whether you're a devoted Yeti fan or can't conceive of paying hundreds of dollars for a cooler, you may have wondered how and why the now-iconic brand got its start. Although Yeti's distinct design and steep price tags have turned its coolers into something of a luxury status symbol, the brand's origin story is surprisingly humble.

Yeti was founded by two Texan brothers, Roy and Ryan Seiders, in 2006. According to company lore, the brothers, both avid lifelong fishers, were frustrated by the lack of quality coolers that could keep everything cold in the Texas heat for multiple days. They decided to design their own product to fill the need, and the Yeti brand was born. 

Yeti coolers started as a product designed and marketed for serious fishing and hunting trips, but these days you're probably more likely to encounter one of the iconic monocolor coolers chilling out on a beach or golf course. Still, the brand's fishing origins are reflected in its slogan, "built for the wild." No matter how you use a Yeti cooler, you can be fairly certain that it will keep your ice packs cold for a considerable amount of time.

When the first $300 Yeti hard coolers hit the market in the late aughts, most Americans were accustomed to paying $30 or less for coolers. This dramatic price difference has led many to wonder why, exactly, Yeti coolers are so darn expensive. The short answer is that the coolers were designed for use by serious fishers, to withstand extreme conditions and keep things cold for days on end — and that quality comes with a matching price tag. 

For dedicated fishers used to paying hundreds of dollars for rods, the idea of spending similar amounts of cash on a seemingly simple cooler is perhaps easier to swallow. However, Yeti's coolers have skyrocketed in popularity far beyond the fishing community, and many people consider them well worth the investment for their durability and quality (even if you're just keeping beer chilled on your back patio and not going on a multi-day fishing trip). If you can't bear the thought of shelling out hundreds of bucks for a Yeti, you can always extend the chill in a cheap grocery store model by packing your cooler like an expert and adding a practically free extra layer to keep the inside of your cooler cold.