Veggie hot dog newly launched in IKEA

Last Saturday, after visiting the exhibition in Matsuzakaya Museum, I went to IKEA in Nagakute, a town adjacent to Nagoya. On May 16, IKEA introduced a veggie hot dog and a plant-based banana soft-serve ice cream in the bistros in their stores. I was excited to hear that as I had never been in their bistro due to the lack of vegetarian/vegan options.

At IKEA, I was surprised to see how many people were standing in the line in front of the ticket vending machines. But the line moved faster then I expected, and I could get both veggie hot dog and soft-serve ice cream smoothly. I tried the ice cream first before it would melt. I heard this is 100% plant-based and made from only banana juice. It had a light taste and quenched my thirst.

The veggie hot dog cost only 100 yen, but it was satisfactory to eat. It was made from chickpeas, green peas, kale, carrot, etc. and reminded me of the vegan sandwich I had in SUBWAY in Rovaniemi, Finland last year. It had also red cabbage on top, and I added ketchup and mustard. I thought it was a good value for the price.

According to IKEA, the CO2 emission of the veggie hot dog is 10% of that of the conventional pork hot dog. Though the bun still contains egg and dairy products, it will be vegan in the future. I also learned that 30% of their customers in Japan come to IKEA to eat. I hope more and more people get interested in sustainable and healthy food provided there. From June, they will have a plant-based food fair with two new kinds of veggie hot dogs.

In addition to visit to the bistro, I had another important thing to do at IKEA. These are wholegrain crisp rolls, multigrain crispbread, rye crispbread, and sugar-free oat biscuits I bought in the food market. All of them seem to be vegan.

In addition to them, I bought also thin bread, my favorite, which I have already eaten up.