On September 28, furniture retailer IKEA will add a new plant-based Swedish meatball to its bistro menu at stores nationwide. Dubbed the “plant ball,” the new option—which builds on an existing plant-based meatball that IKEA launched in 2015—is made from yellow pea protein, oats, potatoes, onion, and apple. The new plant ball carries a mere 4 percent of the carbon footprint of IKEA’s traditional meat-based Swedish meatball.
“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,” Sharla Halvorson, Health & Sustainability Manager for IKEA’s global food business, said. “If we were to convert about 20 percent of our meatball sales to plant balls, that would mean around 8 percent reduction of our climate footprint for the food business at IKEA. In order to reduce the climate footprint of the IKEA food business, we need to reduce the amount of traditional meatballs that we sell. With the new plant ball, we can now offer meat lovers a more sustainable alternative—without compromising on the IKEA meatball experience that is loved by so many.”
The new plant ball will be served with mashed potatoes, lingonberries, vegetables, and cream sauce (not vegan) and available for the same price ($5.99 for an adult plate) as its meat-based option. The plant balls will also be sold in 500-gram frozen bags under the name “HUVUDROLL” for $5.99 in the store’s grocery section.
Prior to its US launch, the plant ball will be available in Europe in August.
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