A pair of hands holding a frying pan on a black hob with stainless-steel edges.
10 February 2018

Welcoming the veggie dog

The IKEA Food Lab has been busy lately developing, tasting and testing the perfect bite and are soon ready to welcome a new hero in the IKEA food family. Please welcome the veggie hot dog!

The aim with the new IKEA Veggie hot dog is to develop a more sustainable option for the customers when enjoying that obligatory bite after a visit to IKEA. The ambitions are high: to develop a delicious product that will be as loved as the iconic IKEA hot dog.

“By adding the Veggie hot dog to the offer, we show that we they are on the way to include more plant-based ingredients in the range and of course, offer healthier products.” Michael continues.

A man in blue and white work clothes writing on a note taped to a kitchen cupboard.
The secret formula of a new food icon.
A pair of hands in blue rubber gloves kneading a dough on a white plastic cutting board.
Making the new Veggie Dog

Testing the prototype

The Veggie hot dog is still under development and multiple tests have been done in order to find the right balance and combination of ingredients to get the best veggie hot dog possible. As a part of the product development process a prototype, a kind of work in progress, of the new plant-based hot dog will be tested at the IKEA store in Malmö, Sweden starting mid-February 2018.

”As always when we develop new products we have to secure that it is delicious and that our customers like it. There is no point in creating a more sustainable option for our customers if it isn’t tasty. With the new Veggie hot dog we can inspire and enable customers looking for a quick tasty bite in the IKEA Bistro to choose a plant-based more sustainable option at an affordable price.” says Michael.

The Veggie hot dog will be available at all IKEA stores in Europe from August 2018 and in all stores in 2019.

Two men eating hotdogs inside a professional kitchen, one is wearing a blue apron.
The chef, Alexander Magnusson, tasting the Veggie Dog
A row of men and women tasting food samples, with a row of windows in the background.
Which prototype will be the winning one?

So when did it all begin?

The hot dog at IKEA has a long history: In 1981, and true to his vision for IKEA to be affordable for the many, Ingvar Kamprad set the price of the IKEA hot dog at 5 Swedish Krona – which was half the price compared to competitors in Sweden at that that time. It was the beginning of the success story of the IKEA hot dog that today is served at IKEA stores all over the world.

Fast forward, with introducing the Veggie hot dog to the IKEA Bistro range, IKEA Food want to stay true to that vision and offer a quick, convenient and truly affordable product for all IKEA visitors to enjoy.