During the pandemic, there was one constant Americans could rely on: pizza. Stuck at home, Americans not only ordered record amounts of pizza delivery, but they started making their own pizza pies in earnest (how else to use all that sourdough starter?) And as COVID-19 surged worldwide, Ooni, a Scotland-based maker of sleek pizza ovens that sell for as little as $349, suddenly saw its sales explode. In 2020, revenue increased by more than 300%, say married cofounders Darina Garland and Kristian Tapaninaho. Garland estimates the pandemic accelerated the company’s growth by about three years, and business continues to boom, with annual sales at £52.7 million (or about $70 million) in 2020, growing from £13.7 million in 2019, according to the company. “We were out of stock for four months at a time—of everything,” says Garland. “People were willing to wait, which was amazing.”
The device attracted a new set of hobbyists—and turned out to be suited perfectly for the imperfect times. “It’s interactive, it’s a safe thing to do, people seemed up for learning more skills,” she says. “As much as I absolutely hate being separated from people and the devastating loss that has happened—I would definitely have preferred to grow more slowly—people write to us going, ‘I’ve got this Friday ritual with my son now’.”
But Tapaninaho, who is Finnish, comes from a family of entrepreneurs: His parents ran a supermarket, and his mom ran the bakery. “He’s got baking and business in his soul,” says Garland. “If he has a hobby, he thinks of a business opportunity for it.” He set about building a prototype oven the size of a carry-on suitcase that used wood pellets to heat the device up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit in about 10 minutes. “It was very rudimentary, very Frankenstein-esque,” Garland says. “It’s so cute to see the footage, because the pizza honestly looks so rubbish compared to now. But we were just like, ‘We made a pizza in two minutes!'”
They recruited a local metal welder for help and took their product to Kickstarter in 2012, promising an oven to those who pledged £160, or about $214. (At the time it was called Uuni, Finnish for oven; in 2018 they changed the spelling to make it easier to pronounce, and so wouldn’t be confused for “Uni”—like university.) For that first campaign, they set out to raise just £7,500, not much more than $13,000. In just 30 days, they made almost three times that. They found a Finnish manufacturer and started selling the ovens in brown shipping containers, without “any real branding or anything,” recalls Garland. The London department store Selfridges got in touch, and “sales just kept coming in thick and fast.”
As Ooni has expanded through the pandemic, the company has honed its focus on its ideal customer: the folks a rung down from the professionals—the gadget lovers and dinner party hosts and foodie types who are probably already making pizza. “We learned that we didn’t have to teach them how to make pizza,” said Garland. “They wanted to geek out over sourdough or hydration levels or how much salt is important.” And what if the company could provide those folks with absolutely everything they needed to have a great pizza night? Ooni just launched online grocery shopping via its website, a one-stop shop to purchase your flour, your yeast, your San Marzano tomatoes. They also offer pizza-related accoutrement like peels, stones, and cookbooks, and “pizzawear” like aprons and gloves.
The year 2022 is a big one for the couple, who just turned 40: It’s their 10-year “Ooniversary.” Garland, who recently wrote a pizza-themed children’s book called Jo and the Dough, has dreams of a staff-wide festival day and bringing everyone together for a proper black-tie party. There’s plenty to celebrate: “We created this category. We’re creating a market, which is exciting. There’s lots of competitors coming, but we’ve hopefully got this leader’s advantage,” she says. “And even though we’re doing well, we don’t think we’ve done it, much like that analogy about how you’ve not yet made your perfect pizza. We think everyone deserves great pizza. We’ve got so much to do.”