Vegans of the UAE, you’re in for a treat, IKEA is adding a vegan-friendly alternative to its iconic meatballs to its menu.
And no trip to IKEA is complete without a massive portion of meatballs, right?
Set to launch across UAE stores in November, the ‘plant balls’ will look like meat and taste like meat but are completely plant-based and made from yellow pea protein, oats, apples, onions and potatoes.
The soon-to-launch plant ball that has only four percent of the climate footprint of the traditional meatball offering a more sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to hungry shoppers and meatball fans.
“At IKEA we sell more than one billion meatballs every year. Imagine if we could get some of our many meatball-lovers to choose the plant ball instead. If we were to convert about 20 percent of our meatball sales to plant balls that would mean around eight percent reduction of our climate footprint for the food business at IKEA,” said Sharla Halvorson, Health & Sustainability Manager for the IKEA food business globally.
“In the development phase of the plant ball our key objective has been to recreate the meat-like taste and texture, only using plant based ingredients. We have tried and tested different ingredients and methods and we are very pleased with the final results,” said Alexander Magnusson, chef and project leader at IKEA food.
The largest IKEA in the region opened earlier this year in Dubai Festival Plaza Mall, while a new IKEA is due to open in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Bring on the vegan-friendly meatballs, we say.
For your essential guide to the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants, food and places to eat and more in Dubai, click here. And for Abu Dhabi, head here.
Launching in November, www.ikea.com/ae/en.
