Quite simply, Ooni is all about passion. Passion for pizza. But actually, the brand was kinda born out of frustration. Back in 2012, co-founder Kristian Tapaninaho was struggling to make authentic, wood-fired pizzas at home. His pizzas were good, but they weren’t great. Kristian realised that the problem was heat – or lack of. Domestic ovens just couldn’t get hot enough to deliver that restaurant-quality taste. But back then, if you wanted a proper pizza oven, you needed to invest in a commercial type, which were eye-wateringly expensive and bulky.
So, Kristian went to his backyard and built an innovative prototype: the world’s first ever portable wood-fired pizza oven. His wife, Darina Garland, was impressed, especially when she tasted the results. Together, they launched the Ooni oven project on Kickstarter in November 2012. It smashed its funding target and things soon started to snowball as the Ooni oven attracted plenty of acclaim and admiration.
Today, Ooni is HQ’d in Scotland, with team members in the US and mainland Europe. The product range now includes pizza oven models that run on hardwood pellets, wood, charcoal and gas, meaning there’s an Ooni for everyone. But as well as passion for pizza, Ooni also believes in being a company for good. That’s why the brand is part of 1% for the planet, supporting social and environmental causes across the globe. This is a brand with great products, great values – and great pizza, made in your own backyard.
