Ooni informed workers on Monday that they would be eliminating 75 jobs globally, with 45 located in the UK. All workers were offered voluntary redundancy packages, with those impacted being notified today.
We’re incredibly proud to have built a global business, shaped through the passion of our customers and employees. However, market conditions necessitate a refocus of Ooni’s strategy and structure in line with our future business objectives.
Ooni Spokesperson
Market Saturation
It’s unfortunate news from the pizza oven maker who largely built the segment since their founding in 2012. It also isn’t entirely unexpected.
We noted in our review of their most recent financial filing that they had ramped up staffing, without revenue increasing to match the new staffing level. In order for that to be sustainable there needs to be commensurate revenue growth. We’re guessing they haven’t found that growth yet.
Ooni did a fantastic job creating the small pizza oven category and, in addition to making great products, they were rewarded financially. They had first mover advantage in the category, but their growth hasn’t been sustainable as the market has matured.
Gozney released the Roccbox in 2016 and in the past few years more companies have entered the segment than probably any other in outdoor cooking. All of the recent trade shows have been filled with pizza oven manufacturers. That’s also consistent with the feedback I’ve received from talking with manufactures down through retailers.
Ooni most recently released their largest pizza oven yet, the Koda 2 Max. We’ll see if competing in that niche of the segment will get them back on track.