Pizza oven firm lays out ambitious growth aims

● 2020 target to be among top global outdoor cooking brands

0 Tapaninaho believes Uuni’s aim to become a household name is ambitious but achievable A Broxburn-based pizza oven specialist is looking to move into new state-ofthe-art premises and take on more staff after firing up strong growth in 2017.

Uuni was founded by Finnish-born Kristian Tapaninaho and wife Darina Garland after spotting a gap in the market for a portable wood-fired oven.

The firm’s products are now sold in more than 70 countries and stocked by the likes of John Lewis and Amazon.

Additionally, its Uuni Pro launched with a crowdfunding campaign earlier this year that raised more than $1 million (£750,000), exceeding its original target by 1,288 per cent.

Tapaninaho told The Scotsman that Uuni’s headcount

KRISTIAN TAPANINAHO has almost tripled this year to 20, with plans to grow this by up to about 12 next year.

Garland flagged the development of a 5,000-squarefoot site next to its current premises, aiming to have the new facility with office space for up to 50 people up and running by March. It will also help it work on new product lines to help achieve its goals.

It comes after the firm’s products were last week showcased by US TV host Ellen Degeneres, which Garland deemed “mindblowing”.

The US is Uuni’s main market currently, contributing nearly two-thirds of turnover, and is set to remain key, Tapaninaho said. The firm has just listed in the country with Ace Hardware, which has more than 5,000 stores, and high-end retailer Williams Sonoma.

Tapaninaho flagged a “massive” push in the US next year, but also sees continental Europe as a sizeable opportunity. “As a market, it’s already bigger than the US,” he said. However, Uuni forecasts “huge” growth from the region, citing France, Germany and the Benelux countries.

Turnover hit about £3m last year. As for 2017, “our average year-on-year growth for the last three years will be around 250 per cent so we’re looking at very healthy growth for this year as well”. Its overall aim is to be one of the world’s top five outdoor cooking brands by end-2020. Tapaninaho admits that this is ambitious. “However, with the kind of growth we’re experiencing … we very much believe it’s within our grasp to actually get there”.