IKEA’s Plant-Based Food – No Assembly Required

IKEA promotes healthy and sustainable living by providing plant-based and healthy alternatives in their restaurants, bistros and markets.

IKEA, known for its build-it-yourself furniture model, is significantly reducing its environmental footprint. In 2021, the company was recognized by the United Nations as a leader in sustainability. The company is committed to designing all of its products with circular capabilities. Their main focuses are reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling to extend the life of resources, products, parts and materials for their customers.

IKEA is also committed to promoting healthy and sustainable living. Over 700 million IKEA customers experience the restaurants, bistros and the Swedish Food Market annually. This opens up a huge opportunity for the company to reach their healthy and sustainable living goal. The furniture company plans to increase the share of plant-based alternatives served in their restaurants. Their goal is that 50% of their main meals will be plant-based by 2025.

Furthermore, they plan that 80% of their main meals offered in their restaurants will be non-red meat and 80% of their packaged food will be plant-based. The company has already introduced their meatless meatball, made from pea protein, oats, potato and apple. The meatball tastes and looks like their traditional version but only has 4% of the climate footprint. They also offer veggie hot dogs made from kale, red lentils, carrots, ginger and vegan caviar made from seaweed. IKEA has also decided to eliminate dairy products from its menu and replace them with plant-based alternatives such as oat, soy, and almond milk.

IKEA is committed to social, ethical, and environmental responsibility throughout the entire food supply chain. Their Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials Framework ensures that their foods are produced using sustainable practices. This includes practices that improve soil health or prevent soil erosion and nutrient run-off. IKEA has partnered with the Rainforest Alliance to ensure their coffee and chocolate meet environmental and ethical standards.

Because IKEA provides a range of seafood products in their grocery section, they are committed to only serving certified seafood. The fisheries they use are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council standards, which support sustainable fishing. All of their salmon comes from farms certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.

For the meat products that IKEA will continue to sell, their goal is that all sourcing of eggs, chicken, pork and beef will comply with the Better Programmes by 2025. This program will phase out extreme confinement, routine physical alterations, and routine use of antibiotics across all sources.

Many people are demanding healthier food options, and most restaurants are moving in that direction. It only makes sense for a sustainability leader like IKEA to follow through with these changes and help their millions of customers lead healthier and sustainable lives.