Ikea to source locally for in-house restaurant

Swedish home furnishings company, Ikea Group plans to source a majority of food products and ingredients locally for its in-house restaurants, a senior company executive said today.
"We plan to open our first store in Hyderabad by December 2017. We will open a restaurant in each of our stores, for which we will source a majority of products and ingredients locally," Henrik Osterstrom, country food head, Ikea India said at a conference here.
Subsequently, they plan to launch the second store in Navi Mumbai in middle of 2018, he added, but did not reveal investments in the category.
Globally, food accounts for 5-6 per cent of Ikea's business and there are 389 in-house restaurants serving over 650 million customers presently, Osterstrom said.

"We intend to serve global as well as local range of food, that are sustainably sourced, of good quality and at affordable prices," he said.
"We will not serve red meat, will have low sugar in beverages, and source certified organic produce," he added.

Ikea will have a section that serves local food, and will also have a section serving Swedish specialities.
The company is looking to strengthen its Swedish profile, while showcasing the local flavours, he explained.
The company also intends to have an equal ratio of men and women in its workforce in the country, he indicated.
Ikea plans to open 25 stores across the country by 2030, he said.

The company will open two to three retail stores every year.
Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Surat are the other cities Ikea is looking at, the company had earlier said.