Ooni was set up in 2012 by husband-and-wife team Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland who created the world’s first portable wood-fired pizza oven. The oven can cook pizza in just 60 seconds, heating up to double the temperature of a domestic oven in 20 minutes. After setting up in London, the business moved to Scotland four years ago and is now planning to expand to America and Europe.
Names: Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland
Ages: 35
Positions: Co-founders
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
Ooni
WHERE IS IT BASED?
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
Kristian: WE were passionate about making pizzas and in 2010 decided we were getting better at it and wanted a wood-fired oven. We were living in a rented house in London so couldn’t build an oven in the garden. No one was making an affordable and portable oven so we thought that’s a product others would be interested in.
Darina: We were running a creative education company at the time which is still in existence but mostly managed by a colleague now. The company focused on creativity and innovation in schools which was a nice segway into what we do now. Creativity is about problem solving so we thought very practically about our idea.
Kristian: We launched on Kickstarter which gained interest from international customers and we had an open dialogue with them.
Darina: We got so much press as you can make a pizza in 60 seconds with our product and it has a low price point of £199.
Kristian: The first retailer interested was Selfridges who wanted us to have a collection there. It was different to what was on the market so we captured people’s imaginations in that sense.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
Darina: OUR brand and our story stands out. Kristian invented the product. If you wanted this before you’d spend £1200 on it. Our product is disrupting what was out there. If you want a wood fire oven we’re the best option.
We got to experience lots of different cultures through our creative education business so our workplace is very important. We hire an awesome team and one of our values is passion. We have a passion fund for each employee and 1% of our annual turnover goes towards an impact fund. We want to put our money towards good. It’s a family business and we want to put ourselves in the position of pizza thought leaders. We have a really huge amount of Facebook followers. Along with the oven we give people the perfect pizza dough recipe as we want to take the fear out of making pizza to allow customers to make something that tastes better than in most pizza restaurants.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
Darina: WE thought the world was our oyster at first and the product would appeal to people who like outdoor cooking and pizza but we soon got to understand the market. It appeals to people with no garden space and there has recently been an upsurge in people wanting to get back to nature. Pizza is having a massive renaissance. People don’t have dinner parties in the same way they used to – they are more casual now. A large proportion of our audience is men and barbecue enthusiasts. We also do very well in the gifting market.
Men are a hard demographic to buy for. The product also appeals to general foodies. We’re doing well in terms of reach. We created the category and want to hold that position. We have decent awareness of the market and want to be the go to wood-fired oven brand for customers. We have a really diverse audience and this is because of the price point of £199 – even students buy the product for halls.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
Darina: THE people. I am blown away by the teams we’ve built. I am constantly inspired by them. I also love the community we have build and seeing their amazing pizzas.
Kristian: Seeing people use our product and the reach we have. Being able to work creating a product used by people round the world. Scotland has beautiful countryside and outdoor space to use our product. The business community in Scotland is incredible, it’s really close knit and everyone is eager to help each other.
Darina: I love London but there’s a really connected business network here. It is incredible that you can easily access business moguls. I recently went to Silicon Valley for a trip and people say anyone can help you there but I told them Scotland is like that. I’m originally from Scotland and when we moved we had two small children and my family live here. We are learning a lot from Scale Up Scotland which is a peer network set up by the Hunter Foundation. It’s useful because other businesses have similar challenges and we all try to help each other.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
Kristian: THE immediate goal is to be recognised as synonymous with outdoor pizza. We have a really good shot at that now. We want to be right up there with outdoor cooking brands and be a global success story. It’s a great ambition and we have a strong base here in Scotland.
Darina: We want to be a household name but it doesn’t happen overnight. America is our biggest focus. We are hiring in the US now which is crucial for our growth over there. The US is 50% of our sales already. The climate is better for cooking outdoors and there is also a bigger culture of outside cooking there. We are also looking to expand further into Europe.
We are under no illusions and know that people will come along and make the same product but we want to be thought of as world leaders.
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