Swedish furnishing giant Ikea is undergoing a change and will soon rid their food shelves of anything not bearing it’s name.
People outside of Sweden craving Swedish-brand eats have made a habit of frequenting Ikea stores around the world in order to find such things as Cloetta chocolate, Abba herring, Kalle’s caviar spread, and cookies by Göteborgskex.
But soon, those looking for a taste of Sweden will instead have to settle for Ikea-branded approximations following a decision by the company to move to own-branded foods.
“People will still be able to find similar products out there,” Ikea spokesperson Ylva Magnusson told The Local.
“But some suppliers will fall out while there is chance for new to add.”
The reasoning behind Ikea’s decision is to work proactively to ensure quality of the products, even though there’s been no issue with the suppliers in the past, Magnusson said.
“The purpose is to be able to fully control the recipes, the quality, and make sure the code of conduct is respected,” she explained.
“It is a way to take responsibility for people, animals and the environment, because this way we can trace the products more easily.”
Once the new assortment is ready, Ikea will present 150 products to the shop, including cheese, seven types of herring, three types of bread, liquorice and lox.
“And something that’s very important,” she said enthusiastically, “caviar spread. And of course we will have crisp bread.”
Magnusson said the decision came after a long discussion with the suppliers, some of which will now lose an important export channel.
While she was however unwilling to discuss specific companies, Newspaper Fri Köpenskap mentions big names such Cloetta, Abba and Göteborgskex, producers of Polly and Kex Choklad chocolate, herring and much of the Swedish biscuits, respectively.
“We hope that people will like our products, and we’re very responsive to what people think,” Magnusson said.
“We encourage them to keep contacting us and giving us their opinion.”
