Ikea Goes Gronsaksbullar With Its Meatballs

Ikea, the Swedish self-assembly furniture and knick-knack purveyor that does a hefty side business in meatballs made the old-fashioned way, will be serving a new “vegan friendly veggie ball” version of the delicacy in its food courts in the U.S. starting today. Called Grönsaksbullar and costing $4.49 for a plate of 10, it is “the first step to include a wider variety of nutritious and more sustainable food choices,” according to a release.

It’s also a “a bid to appeal to Millennials,” writesBruce Horvitz in USA Today, and the “47% of adults and 32% of youths under age 18 [who] say they eat vegetarian meals at least once a week, according to two recent Harris polls.” 

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“The veggie ball is meant to cater to a wider audience and offer more choice,” Michael La Cour, managing director of Ikea’s food business, tells the Wall Street Journal’s Saabira Chaudhuri. “Our prime ambition is to drive visitation to stores.”

The Grönsaksbullar is a rolled mash of chickpeas, carrots, green peas, red pepper, corn, kale, pea protein, onion, rapeseed oil, salt and seasoning.  

“It's definitely a sign of the times,” Anne Dinshah, VP of the American Vegan Society, tells USA Today’s Horovitz. “Big companies like Ikea have noticed that people would like vegan options, and they're changing to accommodate them.”

Ikea announced last year that it was developing a vegetarian version of its famed Swedish meatballs, notes Eater.com’s Khushbu Shah, but  “vegans felt left out … and petitioned hard for a ball everyone could enjoy. According to PETA, the organization's ‘friendly petition’ garnered over 25,000 signatures.”

Yesterday, PETA issued a “Swedeist Vegan Meatballs Award” toIkea, pointing out that “recent studies reveal that 13% of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian.” Also 31% of shoppers — and 50% of Millennials — “said that they’ve bought vegan ‘meats’” in the last year. 

“With the demand for vegan options higher than ever, Ikea’s meat-free meatballs are right on-trend,” PETA EVP Tracy Reiman says in a statement. “PETA works behind the scenes with many retailers and restaurants that are eager to feed diners’ hunger for foods that are healthy, humane, and eco-friendly.”

Ikea also “promises to make all of its seafood, with the exception of crayfish, certified sustainable by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) or the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)” by the end of the year, according to Karen Lo in the Daily Mail, and it is working with the MSC to certify crayfish fisheries.

“Additionally, Ikea will provide consumers with more nutritious and appropriately portioned menu options, and update the look of its restaurants to reflect its Swedish heritage and “a more personal experience and ‘homey’ feeling,” Lo reports.

The forthcoming menu additions “will also be produced in a responsible manner that considers people, planet, and animal welfare, based on our People and Planet Positive strategy,” Ikea says in its release.” 

“The veggie meatballs will reportedly have a carbon footprint that is 1/30 of the meatballs, of which they sold a billion last year alone,” reports SFGate’s Sarah Fritsche.

“Ikea's original vision was to create a better every day life for the many,” La Cour tells the Huffington Post’s Kate Bratskeir, adding that the same concept of making furnishings affordable to college students and families “applied for food.”

Canadians, however, will have to wait until April 27 until the meatballs make their way on to the menus in its 12 stores. Not that everybody thinks that Grönsaksbullar is such a good thing.

“With any place that’s bloody awful, there is usually one saving grace. In the case of Ikea, it has always been the food. The junk food,” opines Adam Gabbatt in The Guardian.

“We don’t want your veggie ball, Ikea. We don’t need your veggie ball,” Gabbatt concludes. “We’re trapped in your impenetrable warehouse, gorging on fries in your Swedish restaurant, and we like it just fine.”

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