In the interest of not having a super long title, I shortened this to the above, but the full sentence is, Dear IKEA, Please stop making new plant based foods.
As someone who is vegetarian and regularly gets excited about new veggie food, it probably seems like a bit of a weird and ridiculous thing to say, and I can honestly understand and appreciate that perspective, but hear me out...
I've said it before and I will say it again, I am sick of trying new vegetarian food, it being really good and then it disappears off of the face of the earth never to be see again either because it's not financially viable to make or because it didn't get the anticipated reception, which let's face it, also comes down to the question of money.
Last year, (or it might have been the year before at this point... timelines aren't a strength of mine unless I can connect things to events I do know the date for) IKEA created a plant goujon that was actually brilliant. It was actually delicious enough that my meat eating partner chose it a few times when there were plenty of other options on the menu, and I see that as a mark of success, but then with no word of warning, they were pulled out of stores and gone without a trace, and I was gutted.
Definitely last year, IKEA then created a rice bowl which is slightly curried in nature, doesn't have a sauce and is essentially just rice, vegetables and spices, so it suits both my and my partner's weird food things down to the ground which was exciting because most things don't actually suit the both of us. We've also seen the new plant nuggets coming into a couple of the stores, which seems exciting, right? Nah, it's not, because even though both those and the rice bowl are still on the advertising boards of the restaurant at our local IKEA - which isn't overly local, but it's the best we have since IKEA canned the idea of the Preston store - we were informed that the menu has been dramatically reduced and that the reasoning behind this was something to do with seeing if the speed of service could be increased by having fewer dish options available. In other news, we're testing if water is wet...
My partner and I are quite the fans of going to IKEA for food, partly because there is always something we need in IKEA, even if it is just a shipping order of candles, but also because the food that they make is good quality, has plenty of veggies in and it's affordable. More than anything else though, the reason we go is for the choice. The amount of choice which suits both of us is incredible and the idea of slimming down the offering really makes me sad because the things which go are the far more interesting meals and what you're left with is things like fish and chips, the Swedish meat and plant balls (granted, it's not IKEA without those) and pasta and tomato sauce, all of which don't amount to a great amount of options and there's nothing really exciting about any of it. I know they're not trying to cook gourmet or win a Michelin star, but it just seems a shame when they have created a menu that is so good!
Finding that out really put a damper on today's visit, because we had planned to go to IKEA for food after a busy day, because I know what I like from there and I then know I don't have to go home and cook something else. Whilst we were able to get something to eat, what I had was a far cry from what I was wanting, and meant I had to cook something else when I got in because I was already feeling hungry again. Granted, we were still able to use the bottle warming facilities for sorting out our son, the changing facilities... again, for sorting out our son..., and also the breastfeeding/ nursing area for me to be able to pump, the constant changes of the menu which are, in my opinion, for the worse are really starting the impact whether I even want to go or not, and given that IKEA is a long trek for us now that we've moved, it's becoming a real disappointment, and I really wish that IKEA would stop introducing new and great foods (particularly anything plant based, since that's all I eat) only to discontinue them a short time later, because I don't like change very much and I get quite attached to foods that I like, and it's just making me sad now...
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