Ikea Adds Plant-Based Hot Dog To Menu And Customers Are Pumped

When we think of the many restaurants that are looking into offering vegan eats, not many consider options at wholesalers and furniture stores. However, we can now count Ikea in the running, as they just announced their ambitions to launch a new Veggie Dog this year. The goal is to create affordable vegan food for the many who enjoy a cheap and nutritious meal from their food service.

Ikea famously sells food at a lower cost than the competition. Hot dogs are available for only 50 cents each, and a full meal can easily be purchased at under $10. It’s how they pull consumers in to look and potentially buy their products. Even if the food is sold at a loss, they can make that up in furniture sales.

They plan on changing their food menu up with some vegan options to cash in on the craze. A new veggie hot dog will be tested out at their location in Malmo, Sweden, beginning at the end of February. Through consumer feedback, they’ll be adjusting the ingredients to create a final version with a goal to make it available in all European locations by August.

“Every year, 660 million people enjoy the Ikea Food offer, and we see this global reach as an opportunity as well as a responsibility to serve food that is good for people and the planet,” Michael La Cour, managing director at Ikea Food, told Metro.

No price has been announced for how much the Veggie Dog will cost, but it’s unlikely to see it be much more than the original dog at 50 cents. Even if consumers don’t buy furniture when they get a bite to eat, the hope is to keep them coming back. They’ll think of Ikea first when it comes time to buy that new couch or coffee table; or at least the next time they want a healthy and affordable plant-based meal.

Since many people synonymously think of cheap food as being bad for having more artificial ingredients, it’s been refreshing to see fast food options explore vegan options. McDonald’s and Subway are a few examples of restaurants that are adding plant-based meats to their menu in this calendar year. 

With a greener diet booming in the Scandinavian countries, that's where their early product testing is beginning. La Cour also told Metro that by offering the new vegan hot dog, they have the ability to “inspire and enable customers” to try a “more sustainable option at an affordable price.” Perhaps they could even kickstart somebody into beginning a vegan diet.

No announcements have been made on when these vegan options could even be offered in stores throughout the United States. However, with a growth rate from one to six percent of Americans identifying as vegan since 2014, it’s likely a matter of time that they’ll be rolling through assuming all of their testing goes well.