Behind the Scenes with One Planet Pizza
One Planet Pizza’s mission isn’t just to make and sell really great pizza – their mission is to help make the world a better place, one crust at a time.
Lisa speaks with Mike Hill, co-owner of One Planet Pizza, about how they developed the pizzas, the concept and how they are engaging with the vegan community to conduct their business in a fun, healthy and eco-friendly way.
One Planet Pizza was born from you spotting a gap in the market. How did you go from spotting that gap to proving that people would buy?
We were really lucky that we were based in Norwich, one of the ‘vegan centres’ of the UK, and I was running a veggie/vegan restaurant at the time as well. So, we used the restaurant kitchen to produce the pizza prototypes, and then held ‘tasting sessions’ with the local vegan community to see what they liked and didn’t like. Once we had narrowed down the choice to the four favourite flavours, these become our ‘classic range’.
The next stage was to get the branding and packaging right. We were determined that it was going to be radical and as environmentally friendly as possible. So, we ended up with our distinctive compostable box, with the premium looking black wrap around it. We then took it out to the three wholefood/health food shops that we knew in Norwich and persuaded them to give our pizzas a go. We still deliver to these local shops ourselves, 4 years later!
Your strapline is ‘Changing the world one crust at a time’. How much has the vegan cause and engaging with the vegan community played a role in One Planet Pizza’s development?
It’s been massive! Right from the start we knew we needed to build up a big social media following and engage with the plant-based community in a fun and creative way. We held a lot of competitions and worked with several key bloggers to build up awareness and interest. We call it ‘Pizza with Purpose’, and another strap line we use is “This pizza may not save the world, but it’s a start!”
We wanted the vegan community to be part of our company’s development and growth. So, right at the start we did a crowdfunding raise which allowed 104 like-minded individuals to get an early stake in the business. We were actually the first vegan company to equity fundraise, and those initial investors are still with us to this day.
We try to support and attend as many vegan events as possible, usually taking along our big pizza ovens then cooking and selling slices of pizzas made to exactly the same recipe as our frozen range.
Recently we launched our D2C offering called OPP Direct. This has allowed us to collaborate with other plant-based brands on special ‘mash up’ pizzas, but also importantly to support vegan charities like The Vegan Society, Viva and Animal Equality. We recently had a week where we donated money to Animal Equality for every pizza we sold!
The vegan food market is getting very competitive. How did you create a point of difference for OPP other than just selling a frozen vegan pizza?
Partly it’s the story behind the brand: the father and son vegan team that is unique. But we work hard on the pizzas themselves and the packaging. So, our pizzas have half the salt and sugar you typically find in meat/diary pizzas, and they are also a source of Omega 3 because we add flax seeds to the base and chia seeds to the sauce. We know our carbon footprint is 20% less than traditional pizzas, and finally we are the only pizza brand in the world (as far as we know) that is ‘zero to landfill’ as far as our packaging is concerned.
We know you had experiences of running businesses before OPP. What’s the main difference in running a vegan company in comparison with a non-vegan business?
There aren’t too many differences actually, but you do have to be more careful about what you do, say and use in your products. The vegan community has very high personal standards, as you would expect. They keep us on our toes to make sure we are doing everything we can to make our company as ethically and environmentally sound as possible.
You’ve recently launched direct-to-consumer so that people can buy packs of pizzas from your website delivered frozen to their door. What other innovations does the future hold for OPP?
Well, look out for our for big rebrand coming up, which will totally reposition ourselves in the market. Plus, more pizzas – including a special ‘Crustmas Pizza’ special with Tofurky and Ocado. We have plans for expanding more into mainland Europe very shortly as well, and some more collaborations with well known high street brands!
What would your advice or top tips be for someone who is thinking about starting their own vegan business?
Don’t wait until your product is perfect before you launch it! Its really important to get your MVP (minimal viable product) developed and out there as soon as possible. You are never going to get it right first time, so accept that and get something out in the marketplace so you can learn your lessons and change/adapt really fast!
Visit One Planet Pizza’s website and buy their pizzas online at www.oneplanetpizza.com
Lisa Fox says:
Mike and Joe at One Planet Pizza not only spotted a gap in the market for a great vegan frozen pizza – they genuinely wanted to make a positive impact on the world and help the vegan cause.
By leading with this message and backing it up with zero to landfill packaging, charitable donations, and listening to (and knowing) their audience, they have created a movement with loyal brand champions rather than just a vegan pizza company with customers. They are a great example of how you can make a positive impact on the world with a vegan business
