IKEA seeks to drive food sales growth with eco
Michael La Cour
The divisionâs boss   Michael La Cour   said  it  could outstrip that sales growth in coming years as  it  catered better for customers who had become more conscious about the nutritional value and sourcing of their food in recent years.
âThis massive shift in terms of how to serve and what people expect around food of course has an impact on how we want to do food going forward at IKEA â  he  told Reuters on Wednesday.
The food business accounted for 5 percent of sales in the fiscal year to August 2014 at IKEA Group  which owns IKEA Food Services and most of the IKEA stores worldwide.  La Cour  said  he  expected that proportion to be at least unchanged this year.
In a first step of its food drive  IKEA on Wednesday launched a vegan version of its signature Swedish meatballs with a carbon footprint 30 times less than that of the meat-based product. Within months  all seafood on sale will be certified as sustainably fished   La Cour  added.
 La Cour  said the 2013 horse meat scandal - which saw IKEA withdraw its meatballs across most of Europe after a supplier found a batch that contained traces of horse meat - was a wake-up call for the food industry.
The divisionâs boss    [TGT]    said  it  could outstrip that sales growth in coming years as  it  catered better for customers who had become more conscious about the nutritional value and sourcing of their food in recent years.
âThis massive shift in terms of how to serve and what people expect around food of course has an impact on how we want to do food going forward at IKEA â  he  told Reuters on Wednesday.
The food business accounted for 5 percent of sales in the fiscal year to August 2014 at IKEA Group  which owns IKEA Food Services and most of the IKEA stores worldwide.  La Cour  said  he  expected that proportion to be at least unchanged this year.
In a first step of its food drive  IKEA on Wednesday launched a vegan version of its signature Swedish meatballs with a carbon footprint 30 times less than that of the meat-based product. Within months  all seafood on sale will be certified as sustainably fished   La Cour  added.
 La Cour  said the 2013 horse meat scandal - which saw IKEA withdraw its meatballs across most of Europe after a supplier found a batch that contained traces of horse meat - was a wake-up call for the food industry.