Our new vegetarian meatballs will save the planet, says Ikea

IT changed the world with its flat-pack furniture and now Ikea wants to save the planet... with vegetarian meatballs.

The dish loved by millions of British customers is to get a meat-free makeover that it is claimed will cut carbon emissions by half.

The Swedish firm says producing the new version uses far less energy than making the pork and beef variety.

Its veggie balls will be rolled out this month, created from a secret recipe of chickpeas, peas, carrots, peppers, corn, kale and seasoning.

Ikea is as famous for its meatballs as its cheap self-assembly furniture and UK customers often spend entire days inside its large warehouses eating and shopping. The company now sells a staggering one billion of its regular meatballs every year.

But Ikea chief executive Peter Agnefjall said the veggieball created a ‘big opportunity’ to be kinder to the environment – as cows and pigs are responsible for methane emissions while cooking vegetables uses less energy than meat.

‘It’s healthier and better for the planet,’ he said. The firm has spent two years developing the veggieball, the first inno- vation to the range since Ikea started selling food to encourage shoppers to stay inside its stores back in 1959.

There was controversy when Ikea was caught up in the international food fraud scandal in 2013 when it emerged there was a significant amount of pony and horse meat. A company spokesman last night said the new dish would be a healthy choice that is ‘delicious, sustainable and affordable’.

The spokesman added that the veggieball, which will be launched at an event in Belgium next week, will not be available in the UK until May.