Ikea's Swedish plant ball
Ikea's plant version of their Swedish meatball
Each year, Ikea sells more than a billion meatballs at its in-store restaurants. But the furniture company is now hoping to convince more customers to choose a plant-based version instead. In August, it will launch a new “plant ball” in European stores. U.S. stores will follow in September. The company first started experimenting with plant-based meatballs in 2014, though the new recipe, made with a mix of yellow pea protein, oats, potatoes, onions, and apples, looks and tastes more like its traditional beef-and-pork version. It’s one part of Ikea’s larger ambition to be “climate positive” by 2030, meaning that it will reduce more greenhouse gas emissions than it emits. That involves changes in how it buys energy (the company has invested in renewable energy plants that now produce more energy than it uses) and shifts to services like electric delivery.