IKEA Restaurant
Food is a big part of people’s lives and it is the heart of everyday life. The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many by serving them an honest and modern taste of Sweden they can trust and feel good about.
The IKEA Restaurant has seven food principles to describe our food philosophy to become people and planet positive, but first, let's take a trip through the history of IKEA Restaurant.
1959: By opening the first IKEA Restaurant in Älmhult and making it part of the IKEA store, Ingvar Kamprad was successful in keeping customers, who traveled long distances, in the store and giving them more time to discover our home furnishing offers.
1985: Customers were not served smoothly and the quality was not good enough. Severin Sjöstedt, the chef behind the original IKEA meatball recipe, threw himself into creating the perfect IKEA meatball. After a year, he successfully created the IKEA meatball – convenient, Swedish, and for the many. It is now a staple in every IKEA Restaurant menu in the world.
Food has always been important for IKEA and as Ingvar himself put it – in the Swenglish way: "It’s tough to do business with hungry stomachs".
1. Lagom
Lagom is the Swedish word for not too much, not too little but just right. We inspire people to eat well with a balance of all nutrients in responsible portion sizes - aiming for just the right balance between plant-based, healthy and indulgence.
2. Plant-based
At IKEA we want to inspire and enable people to live a healthy and sustainable life, within the limits of the planet. Plant-based ingredients are more sustainable and have a lower carbon footprint and carbon dioxide emissions than red meat.
Made from pea protein, potato flakes, oats and apple, amongst others, the plant ball, served the same way as the classic meatball, is the perfect alternative for those who love the taste of the meatballs but want to make a more sustainable choice. The plant ball will be available in the IKEA Restaurant menu of our Philippine store.
3. Sustainable
Our ambition for the IKEA Restaurant is to create a circular food system that positively impacts both people and the environment.
We also want to positively impact the lives of farmers and enhance the livelihoods of smallholders and their communities through closer relationships to improve their incomes, food security, health, education and standards of living. We also support work that gives farmers the skills and tools to become resilient to climate change and improve their environmental impacts.
4. Animal welfare
Our supply chain supports a shift towards better animal welfare, sustainable agriculture at the farm level, and an even more sustainable food system.
Today, 90% of the world’s fish stocks are fully exploited or overexploited – by protecting fishery ecosystems, promoting responsibly sourced fish and seafood, and maintaining Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certifications, we can ensure fish stocks won’t decline further.
5. Natural
When Swedish chef Severin Sjöstedt was asked to help create the iconic IKEA meatball because of his passion for food and traditional Swedish cooking, he wanted to create the perfect recipe that could work in large production batches without additives and other unnecessary ingredients.
After a year, IKEA Restaurants began serving the IKEA version of Swedish meatballs and each time a new IKEA store opened, people would line up to be served.
This reflects the IKEA values of making things simple but good.
6. Food is precious
Food is simply too precious to be wasted. By building circularity into our food value chain, reducing and recycling food and packaging waste, we can minimize food loss and waste from farm to fork.
Did you know:
By 31st July 2020, we have saved over 4,617,000 kg of food from being wasted, which is equivalent to more than 10 million meals.
7. Food is pleasure
Over the years, the IKEA Restaurant has become a main reason for people to visit IKEA frequently and it has become as strongly connected with the IKEA brand as flat packs.
When people come to try, shop, get inspired and enjoy good IKEA Restaurant food at great prices, they come in contact the IKEA vision of making a better everyday life for the many people.
We want to bring that experience closer to more of the many people and meet them where they are, serving affordable food enjoyed through all senses, celebrating togetherness and cultural differences.
