International Bakery catches up with Joe Hill, Co-Founder of One Planet Pizza, to learn what inspired him to start the brand and the challenges vegan food faces.
One Planet Pizza came from the efforts of father-son duo Mike and Joe Hill, out of a passion to create tasty, plant-based pizzas good for people and the planet. They call it ‘pizza with purpose’. First founded in 2014, the company has since come in leaps and bounds, as the original plant-based pizzas were first made experimenting with recipes at home, and now can be found in major retailers such as Asda, Whole Foods Market and East of England Co-Op. With a passion for people and the planet, since 2020 One Planet Pizza has been partnered with One Tree Planted, in a commitment to fund reforestation of natural forests and wildlands around the world.
Please introduce yourself and what you do?
Hey, I’m Joe Hill and I’m the Co-Founder of One Planet Pizza. I’m on a mission, along with my Dad, to help tackle climate change with great-tasting plant-based pizzas.
What inspired you to found One Planet Pizza, could you tell me more about that?
My dad and I have been vegan for many years (over 50 combined!). We’ve always loved pizza and shared a passion for home cooking. When the plant-based revolution started around 2016 we realised there was a huge gap in the market; vegan pizzas that tasted just like normal pizzas. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for everyone to eat more plant-based food that’s better for human health and the planet.
Have you seen a positive shift in the bakery sector towards sustainability? Do you think there is more to be done?
We’re very optimistic about the future of food but firmly believe much more needs to be done to help tackle the climate crisis we all face. It’s great to see so much innovation and product launches by larger brands that focus on sustainability and alternatives to meat and dairy. More brands need to help educate consumers on the impact of their dietary choices on the Planet. We hope to see more carbon labelling and transparency and the government needs to address this as a priority to help empower consumers.
Vegan food in the past has been perceived as flavourless. How are you addressing this?
Sadly this is still a common myth we continue to tackle every day! Vegan cheese in particular has this stigma of being inferior to dairy cheese and is commonly cited as the main food people struggle to give up when trying to go vegan. Our mission is to tackle this myth head on and grab it by the metaphorical horns. The alternatives are now good enough to compete with dairy but it’s our mission to get people to trial and to decide for themselves…
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Media contact
Caitlin Gittins
Editor, International Bakery
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920
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