How OLIOLI took over Copenhagen
From one small site in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, to 11 locations across the city in just a few years, OLIOLI is a true Danish success story. And Planday has been there every step of the way. We spoke to Co-founder and COO Frederik Darger Johansen about the business, why he loves Planday, and why 11 stores is just the beginning…
Meet the team
- Who: Frederik Darger Johansen
- Role: COO and Co-founder
- Business: OLIOLI Poke Bar
- Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
That serves up
- Drive, determination and ambition
- A strong team spirit across the business
- A great place to work for young people
- Delicious poke bowls
Who are OLIOLI?
Offering healthy poke bowls and delicious smoothies, OLIOLI has become a mainstay of Copenhagen over the last few years. From humble beginnings they now operate across 11 sites and employ over 150 staff.
The business started life back in 2017, when co-founders Frederik Darger Johansen and Nicolai Suwinai were just 21 and 22 years old respectively.
“My business partner Nikolaj and I chose to start OLIOLI because we both had big dreams and wanted to throw ourselves into entrepreneurship and create something ourselves,” Frederik told us.
“At the same time, we both have a passion for cooking and come from families where food is very important and have worked in the industry elsewhere.”
Despite some initial struggles, they were able to open their first site in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, and haven’t looked back since. It’s an impressive journey, and one that Planday has been proud to have been on with them since those early days.
The challenge
Even with just one store, Frederick was struggling with the admin involved with running a team. Creating schedules, communicating with staff, transferring data to a payroll system… it all added up to some very heavy admin.
“We used to use an Excel sheet for all the shifts, and then we posted a screenshot in a Facebook group every week for the employees to see when they had to work,” said Frederik.
It was a system that couldn’t continue, especially if the business was to start growing. And when you’re using multiple platforms to run the admin side of things, the manual approach gets much harder.
“One thing is the time you spend setting it up in your own system, which for me was a drain. And transferring data to a payroll system was just taking an extremely long time,” said Frederik.
The solution
It wasn’t long before the need for a proper scheduling solution became clear. And for Frederik and Nicolai, Planday ticked all the boxes.
“I was looking for something that could streamline the time we spent on making rosters. It was very heavy administratively,” said Frederik.
“So that was definitely one of the biggest priorities when I went out and looked for a system. It was also really important to have a system that helps everyone know when and where to go – especially running so many stores at once.”
Planday was the obvious choice. And as the business has thrived and the number of stores and employees has grown, they’ve relied on Planday more and more.
The result
The immediate benefits of using Planday were obvious to Frederik and Nicolai, but as the business has grown it’s become an even more valuable tool.
"It's become really useful in a company like ours, where we hire maybe 70 to 80 new people every year. That means that there are many, many people who get their hands on this system,” said Frederik.
“So it's really beneficial that it's very user friendly and very easy to get started with as a new employee in the business.”
And it’s not just the owners that benefit from Planday. It also helps store managers and shift workers every day.
“Planday helps me in my daily life with scheduling – especially if there’s someone who needs to swap shifts or if there’s sickness,” said Mathilde Rokholm, a Team Managers at OLIOLI.
“I can release some shifts if I need some extra hands and it's easy for me to find out if people can’t work or are on holiday. It helps to create a good work/life balance in that regard. I don't have to constantly check up on my team in my spare time to make sure they can work in three weeks.
Looking to the future
OLIOLI was the first poke bowl bar in Copenhagen, as Frederik and Nicolai saw a gap in the market and jumped right into it. They’ve gone from strength to strength since then, and they don’t plan on slowing down.
“We started OLIOLI with the vision of making a big international company, with 200 stores around the world. And it's still our dream today,” said Frederik
“And we’ve always dreamed of being the country's best workplace for young people, and that's definitely something we are still working hard to become everyday.”
It’s an ambitious plan. But if anyone can do it, it’s these guys. And Planday will be there to support them, every step on the way.
Ready to go on your own journey with Planday?
