Jeremias Hernandez

HNSC 3250
Fieldwork Site: IKEA
Location: 1 Beard St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Ikea, one of the world’s most recognizable furniture and home goods retailers, last year

brought an astounding $45 billion dollars in revenue, $2 billion of it coming from the food court.

In my quest to further understand why Ikea has defied “common knowledge” and built a food

court in a furniture warehouse, let’s first understand WHO created Ikea.

Ikea is the brainchild of Ingvar Kamprad, who was born in Småland, Southern Sweden in

1926. From selling matches at the age of 5, to selling Christmas ornaments at 10, Ingvar

Kampard had started developing a business mindset that ultimately led him to begin selling

household items with the milk truck at age17. This is where the name and concept behind Ikea

originated. Ikea is an acronym for his name, his family farm name, and the village outside where

he lived.

As demand increased, so did Ingavr’s ingenuity towards expansion. 1951 marked the year

a catalogue was published allowing for large scale production and selling of goods. 1953, the

first furniture showroom was created in Almhult, Sweden. As his sales started skyrocketing, he

began developing a dedicated team of employees that ultimately led to the flat packed Ikea

furniture we see today. In 1956, an employee was witnessed removing legs of a piece of furniture

to allow it to fit in the consumer’s vehicle, and the rest is history.

In 1960, the first restaurant was opened within Ikea. Fast forward to 1985, the first Ikea

was opened in Philadelphia. In 1990 a new environmental policy was enacted which called for a

control of all activity company related. This meant all aspects of furniture and goods creation

was under Ikea’s control. For the restaurant portion, everything from farm to table was to be
controlled by Ikea and if anything was outsourced, they set an exceptionally high standard they

called “The Ikea way” enacted in 2000.

Ikea foods are based (in the USA) loosely on Swedish recipes, with alterations for

nowaday trends. I had a chance to sit and chat with one of the food service servers/cooks to get

some more insight on “The Ikea Way” and how we, as the consumers, may not see it, but it is

largely present.

Angel is a front line server that has been working with Ikea for over 5 years and enjoys

every moment. Some of the most rewarding moments are the smiles his customers leave his

station knowing they will taste some of the finest cuisine Ikea has to offer. Armed with two hair

nets, one on his head and the other covering his beard, Angel considers himself a bit of a neat

freak. He frequently washes his hands with every glove change and estimated anywhere from 8

to 10 instances. Although he does not taste the food, he is very familiar with what to expect. The

food comes from standardized recipes and measured very accurately to avoid any waste of

ingredients. Some foods also come precooked, so all that is required is heating and garnishing

and serving. Serving customers is generally left in the hands of each server, and Angel is very

confident that he is giving everyone a fair portion. Rookie servers use images as a guideline for

the portions they are serving. Foods that are currently on display are subject to the industry

standard “30 minute limit”. This means that foods on display must be at serving temperature for

up to 30 minutes, then tossed if any remains. Ikea on the other hand has even stricter rules and

applies the same rules, but at 20 minute increments. Some foods however may stay longer. Foods

like gravy that can retain their heat may be kept for a little longer than 20 minutes, but french

fries and meatballs are subject to these proceedings. Although everything is measured and as

accurate as possible, some days there may be leftovers. These leftovers are tossed and cannot be
used or distributed amongst the staff for health and legal liability reasons. When asked about

COVID-19 and its effects on the current times, Angel said it doesn’t affect him much. He is

obsessive with washing his hands because of the residue the gloves leave on his hands. Frequent

hand washing kills and removes any potential pathogens from entering his body or potentially

spreading to peers. Management did have talks about masks, but at the time that I was present, it

was early on in the pandemic, so everything was just words and no action. They did however

place a bar on an outsider, such as myself, from entering sensitive areas to prevent any potential

outside contamination. Extra sanitizing protocols were trained and applied by the staff such as

cleaning table tops and counters much more frequent than usual.

Ikea’s restaurant is considered a commercial food service establishment that follows a

ready prepared food service operation. It is a fully selective, static menu with a variety of options

with the addition of seasonal favorites. Angel (our food service server) is very knowledgeable in

foods that Ikea orders. Although shipping and receiving is an entirely separate department, he

takes the time to familiarize all food service practices, such as FIFO and using a par tech to

frequently check the temperature of food storage areas. The par tech is a device that keeps a

digital log of everything and anything, by use of a barcode system, from dates to temperatures of

foods and ingredients.

Ikea is somewhat of a staple in local Brooklyn’s food culture. They serve low priced, full

meals that surpass industry standards for quality. It is a heavy seller for Ikea as a whole although

not as profitable as furniture. It is used as a tool to make consumers feel more like family and to

promote a higher dollar value per transaction. It is very successful and since adopting “The Ikea

Way”, no expense is spared and far exceeds the competition.