IKEA has established a cult following for the flat-packed furniture pieces that have ultimately changed the ways we furnish our homes forever, but the Swedish decor giant has just as many fans for its cafeteria menu, and in particular, it’s iconic Swedish meatballs.
Back in April, IKEA released its meatballs recipe as something of an isolation pick-me-up (perfect for keeping the dream alive in a time of store closures), but now, its expanded the food offering into a more considered place for those with meat-free diets.
While IKEA already sells Vegetable Balls in its kitchen as an alternative, the company has now announced a revolutionary new plant ball designed to look and taste like the real deal.
“With the new plant ball, we’re able to offer a more sustainable option of our well-known original meatball without compromising on the classic IKEA meatball experience that is loved by so many people around the world”, says Matthew Taylor, country food manager for IKEA Australia.
The meatless meatballs are made from yellow pea protein, oats, potatoes, onion and apple, though IKEA assures they taste like meat. Even better, the new plant balls have a climate footprint of only 4% of the classic IKEA meatball, which will ultimately help the brand to achieve its goal of becoming climate positive by 2030.
“At IKEA, we sell more than one billion meatballs every year. Imagine if we could get some of our many meatball lovers to choose the plant ball instead. If we were to convert about 20% of our meatball sales to plant balls that would mean around 8% reduction of our climate footprint for the food business at IKEA”, says Sharla Halvorson, health and sustainability manager for the IKEA food business globally.
Just like meatballs, the plant balls will be served with mashed potatoes, lingonberries, and cream sauce, and at the same low price. Should you love it, customers can also pick up a frozen bag from the Food Market section of all stores.
The plant ball has been confirmed to hit all Australian IKEA stores on October 6, 2020. We’ve less than a month to wait, and you bet we’ll be counting down the days.