Published 04 June 2019 • Inter IKEA newsroom

IKEA and Tom Dixon to facilitate sustainable growing at home

Growing your own plants and vegetables can be an inspiring way towards healthier and more sustainable food habits. Together with world-renowned industrial designer Tom Dixon, IKEA will develop new products to facilitate urban farming, both inside and outside our homes.

Finding new and more sustainable ways of producing and growing food is vital for the world’s climate. In a new collaboration announced in November last year, IKEA and Tom Dixon aim to come up with a series of smart solutions for home growing. The ambition is to make a difference in everything from reducing food waste to healthier food habits. Another aim is to boost a stronger interest for cultivation and create curiosity among people, children in particular, about where the food we eat comes from.

“This collaboration is a great opportunity to promote growing food and edible plants. We want to make growing available to everyone and spread possibilities for healthier habits. In the end, this is also a way for all of us to be part of saving the planet”, says James Futcher, creative leader at IKEA of Sweden.

Since the collaboration was announced last year, IKEA and Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio have created a conceptual exhibition garden “Gardening will Save the World” at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, one of the world’s most prestigious garden exhibitions.

“Food is an essential part of everyday life and we want to show people how they can put their own greens on their plates, instead of buying everything at the supermarket. Access to good and affordable food is a growing concern when the population in the world increase”, says James Futcher.

IKEA and Tom Dixon want to challenge the way society thinks about growing in general, showing that it’s possible, desirable and easy to have an own place to grow greens even if you live in a city and space is limited. If more people were able to grow at least a little bit of their vegetables and greens at home, it would lead to fewer transports, lower water usage and less food waste.

“Every day brings miserable headlines about the destruction of our natural world. I think many people feel they want to contribute to change and one thing that we all can do is nurture the world by growing. Without plants we are nothing”, says Tom Dixon.

Next step in the collaboration will focus on bringing new smart products to the market. IKEA and Tom Dixon are working with mock-ups, prototypes and experiments with different kind of materials to come up with the most inspiring and versatile result. The products need to be easy to move around, put into corners, stackable and take up minimum amount of space.

“It’s a question about functionality, quality and sustainability and we want the price to be affordable for the many people. And of course, we want the products to be beautiful and inviting too”, James Futcher says.

The first products will be launched globally at IKEA stores in 2021.

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