IKEA is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Australia with the release of a limited-edition Meatball Party Pie, available free in all ten IKEA stores nationwide on Saturday, 31 May. The offering fuses two culinary staples, the traditional Australian party pie and the iconic IKEA Swedish meatball.
The commemorative snack includes IKEA’s classic meatball, gravy sauce, and a flaky crust, topped with Swedish lingonberry jam. A plant-based version using IKEA’s Plantball will also be available.
The Meatball Party Pie, topped with Swedish Lingonberry jam
First introduced in 1985, IKEA’s meatball remains one of its most popular products, with 3 million plates sold at IKEA Australia last year.
Complementing the celebration, IKEA will also offer its hot dogs at a discounted price of 50 cents on Saturday, 31 May and Sunday, 1 June.
Tim Prevade, Country Food Manager for IKEA Australia, said: “Australians have embraced our food as much as our high quality, affordable home furnishings in the last 50 years… The Meatball Party Pie is a fun, flavour-packed way to celebrate that.”
The new product was developed in collaboration with local supplier Loftus Pies, based in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.
John Tsoutsas, Chief Pie Officer at Loftus Pies, noted the partnership’s creative process: “The Meatball pie is certainly not something we’ve done before, so we spent time with the IKEA food team perfecting the recipe for the right amount of meatball to gravy to pastry,”
Visitors to IKEA can try the limited-edition Meatball Party Pie by showing their IKEA Family membership in-store on Saturday, May 31, while stocks last.
The initiative reflects IKEA’s continued focus on integrating food into its brand experience, with internal research indicating 54% of Australians have dined at IKEA.