{"id":428439,"date":"2025-09-16T08:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T08:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/428439\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T08:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T08:40:14","slug":"ikea-celebrates-40-years-of-meatballs-with-falafel-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/428439\/","title":{"rendered":"IKEA celebrates 40 years of meatballs with falafel introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.retaildetail.eu\/wp-content\/themes\/retaildetail\/assets\/sources\/images\/book_icon.svg\" alt=\"icon\" title=\"Article\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p>            <img width=\"1024\" height=\"790\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IKEA-Meatball40Years-2.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Ikea viert 40 jaar gehaktballen\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>        <\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Ingka (Ikea)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ikea<\/strong>\u2018s best-selling product, the meatball, is turning forty years old. The Swedes are celebrating that anniversary by introducing falafel to the menu: over the next six months, more and more markets will see the chickpea balls appear in their restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>Forty years of balls<\/p>\n<p>In 1960, Ingvar Kamprad already started the first Ikea restaurant in \u00c4lmhult: the chain\u2019s founder believed that \u201cwell-fed customers were happier shoppers\u201d. 25\u00a0years later, the company asked Swedish chef Severin Sj\u00f6stedt to develop a \u2018universal meatball\u2019 for introduction in all Ikea markets.<\/p>\n<p>Soon the famous k\u00f6ttbullar became a global success: Ikea sells nearly one and a half billion of them a year worldwide. In\u00a02006, the chain began selling the balls in its Swedish Food Market, along with accompanying sauces and other Swedish delicacies.<\/p>\n<p>Gradually Ikea introduced alternatives to the minced meat balls: in\u00a02015 there was first the chicken ball, followed later that same year by the vegetable ball. Five years later, the plant-based \u201chuvudroll\u201d hit the market, designed to match the taste of the original meatball. Another five years later, Ikea introduces the chickpea-based falafel ball.<\/p>\n<p>Falafel strengthens plant-based range<\/p>\n<p>With the addition of falafel, Ikea wants to increase the proportion of plant-based food and and wants to inspire more people to choose plant-based. Chickpeas are the main ingredient of the new ball, which also includes zucchini, onion and a spice mix. At restaurants, the balls will be served with couscous, aioli and lemon slices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe sell flatpack furniture and round shaped food\u201d, the chain said in a press release. Food designer Daniel Yngvesson calls falafel \u201cthe perfect addition to the menu\u201d: falafel is now a fixture in Swedish cuisine, he believes.<\/p>\n<p>Ikea is one of the largest restaurant chains in the world: it says its 473\u00a0restaurants serve 710\u00a0million guests annually in 63\u00a0markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a9 Ingka (Ikea) Ikea\u2018s best-selling product, the meatball, is turning forty years old. The Swedes are celebrating that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,51561],"class_list":{"0":"post-428439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-plant-based"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115213082664844374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}