IKEA is inviting creative job applicants to join them for a sustainable plate of “3D-printed meatballs” as part of their new Taste the Future recruitment drive.
The new initiative comes as part of a plan by the furniture giant to have 50% of all meals in their restaurant locations be plant-based by 2025. The eco-conscious move is intended to help reduce the company’s environmental impact by reducing meat consumption across the board.
Raising animals for meat consumption is highly inefficient from an environmental point of view, with modern farming techniques required to meet skyrocketing demand resulting in massive emissions and overall land use.
To combat this, IKEA already offers meat-free “plant-balls” in its restaurants around the world, as well as being available for purchase in food areas of their stores.
The plant-ball, which is made with oats, pea protein, potato, onion, and apple, boasts just 4% of the environmental impact of their normal and iconic Swedish meatballs, according to IKEA.
Now, as part of their sustainability commitment drive, IKEA is calling upon creative talents to conjure something that seems almost science fiction: plant-based, vegan meatballs produced by a 3D printer.
The 3D-printed plant-balls are designed to replicate the texture, flavour, and appearance of the classic Swedish IKEA meatball without any of the meat, therefore reducing the climate risks of production greatly.
Alongside the recruitment drive, announced as the Taste the Future campaign, IKEA published a short film which showcases the 3D printer in action.
The campaign aims to draw a diverse range of talent in a variety of digital fields for at least 150 confirmed vacancies across Europe, working to improve the furniture and homeware giant’s sustainability and efficiency in future.
“IKEA is at the start of a journey to embrace data and technology to become more affordable, accessible and sustainable in an omnichannel environment,” says Inter IKEA Group CIO Pascal Pauwels.
“Naturally people with imagination will play a big role in that quest. So here we’re looking for people who want to create a better everyday life with us. This campaign is a great way to start the conversation.”
IKEA’s sustainability commitments also include a requirement that 80% of all packaged food offered in IKEA stores be plant-based and meat-free.
The 3D-printed meatballs are just one of the many experiments that IKEA is exploring in order to leverage new technologies in its drive toward more sustainable eating.
Taste the Future, for instance, is looking for people with technical skills to push the envelope, to not only plan for the future but actively advance IKEA into it with new data and engineering concepts.
“We’re looking for down-to-earth data scientists, future architects, cyber guardians, unboxed engineers and common sense-makers,” explains Karen Rivoire, IKEA Employer Brand Leader. “People who want to co-create a better everyday life at home for the many with thin wallets.”
As of now, the 3D-printed meatballs are only being offered as a trial to selected job applicants as part of the interview process.
There are no current plans to put them on the menu at IKEA restaurants, although that may change depending on the results of the trials.
