Vegan Meatballs Pave the Way for Standalone IKEA Café

International furniture company IKEA is looking to further capitalize on the popularity of its food offerings. According to media outlet Curbed, the introduction of new food items—including a vegan version of its famed Swedish meatballs—has driven the company’s sales up from $1.5 billion in 2013 to $1.8 billion in 2016, with 30 percent of customers currently visiting IKEA for the in-store restaurant alone. As such, IKEA is considering launching more food-focused ventures such as a standalone café and has recently tested several food pop-up shops in Europe. “I hope in a few years our customers will be saying, ‘IKEA is a great place to eat—and, by the way, they also sell some furniture,” IKEA’s Managing Director Michael La Cour said. Last summer, IKEA launched its #TogetherWeEat campaign in which a food truck traveled across country to promote the furniture giant’s food offerings (including vegan meatballs). IKEA began offering vegan meatballs, with a vegan sweet potato-based sauce, in early 2015 after coalescing to pressure from animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to expand its plant-based food options.