IKEA to Debut Vegan Hot Dog at Boston Music Festival

IKEA will debut its vegan hot dog in the United States during the Boston Calling music festival this weekend. The hot dog—made with kale, red lentils, quinoa, onion, carrots, and and spices such as ginger and turmeric—will be available at Boston Calling for $4 and will be served with pickled red cabbage, spicy mustard, and roasted onions. “It’s a quite simple concept,” IKEA Food Services Managing Director Michael La Cour told The Boston Globe. “We serve 660 million people a year on a global basis, and 100 million hot dogs in a year, globally, so it’s quite natural to start with a top-seller and make an alternative which is healthier and more sustainable.” The furniture chain first introduced the veggie hot dog at one IKEA location in Malmö, Sweden in February where it received a 95-percent consumer approval rating. While the chain initially announced that the veggie hot dog would become available in the US by 2019 (pending a local distribution deal), the chain will expand the plant-based option to IKEA stores nationwide this fall.