The veggie hot dog

Description

The IKEA hot dog has a long history, starting back in the 1980s. Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, set the price of the hot dog at half the common price for a hot dog in Sweden at the time. By introducing a vegetarian option to the iconic hot dog, IKEA wanted to stay true to that vision and offer a quick, convenient and truly affordable product for its visitors to enjoy their experience at IKEA.

Impact

The inclusion of the veggie hot dog to IKEA’s food offer is contributing to the company’s food goal to include more plant-based ingredients in the range and offer healthier and more sustainable products. Since the start of veggie hot dog sales in 2018, IKEA has sold more than 20 million in IKEA Bistros around the world. At the same time, sales of the standard hot dog have declined, leading to an improved climate footprint as that of the veggie hot dog is around seven times less than that of the classic meat hot dog. The Swedish Food Market has seen the same development, where IKEA packages the veggie hot dog to take and enjoy at home.

Partners involved

IKEA developed the recipe with its suppliers to enable scalability – tasty and affordable for millions of visitors, available in more than 50 markets.

Barriers

As with any product made for a global market, it is challenging to find the flavor, appearance and texture that appeal equally to the many people in different markets. Equally, the regulatory landscape differs around the world, which limits the list of ingredients to use for a common launch. IKEA did customer testing to decide the right recipe profile and worked closely with the global regulatory team to ensure compliance.