IKEA Japan Co., Ltd., the Japanese subsidiary of IKEA, a Swedish home furnishing company whose vision is to "make everyday life more comfortable for as many people as possible," will launch a plant-based soft serve ice cream made from plant-derived ingredients starting in 2023. On sale at IKEA stores nationwide from October 10, 19 (Thursday).As a result, we will no longer provide milk-flavored soft serve ice cream made with milk.
Plant-based version of the popular soft-serve ice cream flavor
At IKEA, we want to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating habits and lifestyles that have a positive impact on people and the planet.As part of this, IKEA Japan wanted to take a fresh look at IKEA's iconic soft serve ice cream and create more sustainable options, based on our goal of doing business through sustainable food.
IKEA Japan has sold plant-based soft serve ice cream in lemon and ramune flavors for a limited time in the past, but the milk flavor used ingredients derived from animals.Therefore, as a unique initiative in Japan, we started a project around 2021 to make the milk flavor of the extremely popular soft serve ice cream based on plants.
Through repeated trial and error, we produced prototype samples in cooperation with food manufacturers in Japan, conducted test sales for a month at some stores, and conducted customer surveys. After two years of development, it was finally released for sale.
Use soy milk instead of milk
For soft serve ice cream made with regular milk, the richness of the milk is an important element in the flavor.Soy milk was used instead of milk so that plant-based soft serve ice cream can have the same richness as milk.
However, if you add too much soy milk, the soy milk flavor will become too strong, so we adjust the balance between sweetness and saltiness.In addition, we confirmed about 10 different flavors of soymilk, including powdered ingredients, and by using soymilk that has less of the unique soybean aroma, we recreated a rich flavor similar to current IKEA soft serve ice cream.Furthermore, simply replacing dairy products with soy milk resulted in a crunchy texture, so we adjusted the blend of soy milk and other ingredients to make it smoother.
At IKEA, we believe that healthy, sustainable food should be delicious, easy and affordable, making it easier to make better choices for the environment.Therefore, the price of plant-based food is set at the same or lower price than the same type of animal-based food.Therefore, we will sell plant-based soft serve ice cream at the same price as soft serve ice cream made with milk, 50 yen.
IKEA initiatives
To create a sustainable future, IKEA has set a goal of making 80% of its retail retail products in the food business into plant-based foods by 2025.We have provided more sustainable choices through products such as plant cutlet curry, plant ramen, and plant balls.Eating plant-derived ingredients can also help reduce your climate footprint.The launch of plant-based minced meat will contribute to the steps to achieve climate positive by 2030.
