What was initially presented as an April Fool's joke by Ikea in Norway has resulted in an actual product. In collaboration with Chupa Chups, the furniture giant has developed a limited edition lollipop with the taste of the company's classic meatballs and lingonberry. The lollipop contains no animal ingredients and is therefore entirely plant-based.
A total of one million lollipops have been produced to be distributed free of charge in selected stores internationally during the summer. Javier Quiñones at Ingka Group comments on the transition from joke to reality:
We couldn't resist taking it one step further, especially after the enthusiastic response.
A confirmed launch date is June 11, in connection with International Children's Day. Consumers in Denmark will be able to pick up the product in stores in cities such as Aalborg, Copenhagen and Odense from this date. According to previous information, markets such as Norway and the USA also appear to be participating in the campaign.
Despite the fact that the meatball is one of Ikea's most famous Swedish trademarks, the company has chosen to exclude the Swedish market from the launch.
This is a temporary and limited product and we do not have all products available in all markets. So in this particular case, it will not be available on the Swedish market, Ikea explained earlier this year.
For Swedish consumers who want to participate in the launch, a trip across the border to, for example, Denmark is therefore required. Some copies have also begun to appear on second-hand platforms such as Ebay, where private individuals are reselling the lollipops.
An early Swedish tester, who came across a copy via an employee, recently shared their review of the taste in a post on the Reddit forum:
Personally, I didn't think it tasted like meatballs at all, more like a strange sweet/umami flavor.