Scottish Company Ooni Takes On Global Kitchen Appliance G…

The Edinburgh-headquartered business began with a portable pizza oven and a £17,000 crowdfunding campaign. Its latest product, developed as Ooni attempts to expand beyond outdoor cooking, will compete directly with some of the oldest names in domestic kitchen equipment.

A Scottish company that created an international market for portable pizza ovens is preparing to take on the established giants of the home-appliance industry with a new dough mixer developed for ordinary domestic kitchens.

Ooni will release its Halo Core Spiral Mixer on 4 August, priced at £499 in the UK. The machine is intended to bring the rotating-bowl mixing systems normally found in professional bakeries and pizzerias into the home.

The launch is being presented internationally from Edinburgh. The company has its global headquarters and principal product-development operation in Scotland. Ooni Park in Broxburn, West Lothian, is used for product development, while its second Scottish office at Edinburgh Park supports the wider business. Its international operations include regional headquarters in the United States, Germany, Australia and China.

Ooni employs more than 220 people worldwide and remains privately owned rather than controlled by a multinational appliance conglomerate. Its controlling company, Magic Foundry Limited, is incorporated in Scotland and registered at Ooni Park in Broxburn. Companies House records show that Magic Foundry holds more than half of the shares in Ooni Limited, at least 75 per cent of its voting rights and the power to appoint or remove directors.

The operating company itself was incorporated in 2012 and is registered in England and Wales, with an accounting address in Kent. Its ownership, headquarters, product-development functions and senior creative operations, however, remain centred in Scotland.

That makes the Halo Core more than a new kitchen appliance. It is the latest attempt by a Scottish-designed consumer brand to compete in a global market generally dominated by large American, European and Asian manufacturers.

Ooni was founded by husband-and-wife team Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland. Tapaninaho, who is Finnish, began developing a portable oven after finding that an ordinary domestic cooker could not reach the temperatures needed for Neapolitan-style pizza. Garland was raised in Edinburgh, where the company later established its headquarters.

The pair launched the original product, then called Uuni, through Kickstarter in November 2012. The campaign raised approximately £17,000 in advance orders. What began as a small portable wood-fired oven developed into an international business selling gas, multi-fuel and electric ovens around the world.

Ooni says it has now sold more than three million ovens globally. The company’s rise was unusually rapid, particularly during the pandemic, when restrictions increased demand for outdoor cooking equipment. Annual sales reached £208 million in 2021 before falling as the temporary home-cooking boom subsided.

By 2024, annual sales had declined to approximately £120 million. Ooni cut jobs, brought in outside management and began broadening its range beyond outdoor pizza ovens. The company returned to more modest sales growth and profit during 2025.

The Halo Core therefore arrives at a consequential point in Ooni’s development.

Ooni entered the mixer market in 2025 with the larger £699 Halo Pro. The new Halo Core is a smaller and less expensive model intended to reach home bakers who may not require the capacity or controls of the professional-style machine.

The mixer has a 4.5-litre bowl and can prepare enough dough for between two and ten 12-inch pizzas. Ooni says it is 25 per cent smaller and 30 per cent lighter than the Halo Pro, although it can still mix more than six pounds, or approximately 2.7 kilograms, of dough.

Its principal difference from a conventional stand mixer is the way the dough moves.

Most familiar domestic mixers use a stationary bowl while the attachment travels around it in what is called a planetary motion. In the Halo Core, the bowl rotates while a spiral hook and central breaker bar work through the dough together.

The intended effect is to stretch and fold the dough more evenly, encouraging gluten development without generating as much heat. Spiral mixers have long been used in commercial bakeries, where dough may need to be mixed repeatedly and for longer periods.

The Halo Core uses two motors and offers 20 speed settings between 60 and 300 revolutions per minute. Motor protection can automatically adjust its speed during demanding mixes to reduce the risk of overheating.

It also includes a geared whisk, silicone-edged beater, splash guard, proofing lid and removable breaker bar. The attachments allow the machine to prepare cake mixtures, icing and meringue as well as bread and pizza dough.

Tapaninaho said traditional stand mixers were not designed principally for kneading dough and could stall, overheat or fail to develop it evenly.

“With Ooni Halo Core, we’ve engineered a solution that fits on your counter but refuses to compromise on performance,” he said. “We are making professional-grade spiral mixing technology the new domestic standard.”