Ikea has launched the “Year of Cooking and Eating” with an immersive pop-up experience in NYC’s Union Square from Oct. 2-26, as well as a partnership with Vanguard Renewables to divert food waste from its restaurants.
The Ikea House Warming activation will bring guests on a journey of all things food, from storing and organizing, preparing, cooking, setting, serving, eating and cleaning. The pop-up will include a kitchen planning studio along with activities like a daily (m)eatball happy hour, children’s scavenger hunts, Frakta bag personalization and a variety of kitchen demos and tastings.
At the pop-up and throughout the coming year, Ikea will be introducing more than 200 new food-related products, including dining tables, storage solutions to help prevent food waste and more versatile kitchen ranges.
“With Ikea House Warming, we wanted to go beyond showcasing our delicious food options and highlight how Ikea has a solution for every aspect of cooking and eating,” said Paul Anderson, Home Furnishing and Retail Design Leader at Ikea U.S. in a statement.
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Ikea also is marking 40 years of its iconic meatballs; the retailer has sold more than 1.4 billion food balls annually, and that number is likely to grow with the addition of a new falafel food ball, supporting efforts to feature more plant-based options on its menu. In June 2025 Ikea cut Monday-Friday restaurant prices by 50% in 14 countries, with kids eating free, to help customers stretch their budgets in tough economic times.
In November 2024 Ikea opened a standalone restaurant in London’s Hammersmith district, next to the retailer’s newly upgraded Hammersmith city store, part of its efforts to create more accessible shopping experiences with smaller-format locations.
Ikea Launches Food Waste Recycling Pilot
The retailer, part of Ingka Group, also has launched a pilot food waste collection program at five Ikea stores that’s designed to give new life to food scraps. Ikea has partnered with Vanguard Renewables, which will collect plate scrapings, kitchen trimming and expired foods from Ikea restaurants at stores in Stoughton, Mass.; New Haven, Conn.; Schaumburg and Bolingbrook, Ill.; and Oak Creek, Wis.
Vanguard will convert the food waste into renewable natural gas and low-carbon fertilizer for local agriculture through a proprietary anaerobic digestion process. Each unit is expected to divert approximately 250 pounds of waste per week, equating to more than 32,000 pounds over the six-month pilot. Ikea plans to expand the program with additional units after the pilot is completed.
“This pilot is just the beginning for our food waste journey,” said Paul Flite, Food Manager at Ikea U.S. in a statement. “Not only are we keeping food waste out of landfills and improving operational efficiency, but we’re excited to be supporting local farmers and agriculture across the U.S. to further our goal of creating a better everyday life for the many.”
