IKEA Plans To “Remove or Replace” Dairy In Sustainability Push
Swedish retail giant served food to over 500 million customers last year alone, and is now looking to ditch carbon-intensive dairy products and make 50 percent of its food plant-based to help lower its carbon footprint.
IKEA’s strawberry-flavored vegan soft serve. Credit: IKEA
Global retail giant IKEA has announced plans to “remove or replace” dairy products as part of the brand’s commitment to become more sustainable.
Perhaps surprisingly, IKEA ranks as one of the world’s largest food providers, and around 520 million visitors ate food in its global restaurants, bistros, and stores last year.
Now, the brand is relying on the power of plants to lower its climate footprint and help encourage customers to choose and enjoy the more sustainable food option.
Among its latest goals in the newly-released Sustainability Report 2022, the brand says:
“We continue to explore where and how we can remove or replace dairy in our range (without compromising on taste) to further reduce the climate impact of our food ingredients.”
The plans to decrease its dairy offering are part of IKEA’s wider ongoing commitment to make at least 50 percent of main meals in its restaurants plant-based by 2025.
IKEA’s veggie balls. Credit: IKEA
New plant-based menu options are already being introduced across international markets, and have included the launch of a veggie ball ready-meal and a chocolate-flavoured plant-based soft ice.
Feedback so far for the plant-based push has been positive. IKEA’s report states that “the positive trend of customers choosing plant-based food continues”, with demand for its popular plant-based meat balls increasing, and sales of its veggie hot dog nearly doubling since 2019.
Credit: IKEA
As a global business, IKEA says that it has a responsibility - and opportunity - to inspire customers to embrace more healthy and sustainable living. The brand is exploring ways to encourage customers to choose the plant-based option, including price decreases, which has resulted in increased sales.
IKEA’s impact on the planet is lowered whenever a customer chooses the plant-based option over the animal-based option. For example, the brand’s plant-ball HUVUDROLL has only 4 percent of the climate footprint of the traditional meatball, without compromising on taste and texture.
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The proposed guidelines, used by federal nutrition programs and health professionals, will emphasize that protein can come from different sources, and recommend plant-based proteins over animal-based proteins.