It changed the world with its flat-pack furniture and now Ikea wants to save the planet ... with vegetarian meatballs . The dish loved by millions of British customers is to get a meat-free makeover that it is claimed will cut carbon emissions by half . The Swedish firm says producing the new version uses far less energy than making the pork and beef variety . Green scheme : IKEA claims it will 'save the planet ' with its new vegetarian meatballs as far less energy is needed both to produce and cook them than the pork and beef variety . Its veggie balls will be rolled out this month , created from a secret recipe of chickpeas , peas , carrots , peppers , corn , kale and seasoning . Ikea is as famous for its meatballs as its cheap self-assembly furniture and UK customers often spend entire days inside its large warehouses eating and shopping . The company now sells a staggering one billion of its regular meatballs every year . In an interview with the Daily Mail , IKEA chief executive , Peter Agnefjall , said : ‘ We are launching a vegetarian meatball . We see a big opportunity . The vegetarian meatball will go global in April and have 50pc less carbon dioxide than a normal meatball . It ’ s healthier and better for the planet. ’ The firm has spent two years developing the veggieball , the first innovation to its meatball since it started selling food to encourage shoppers to stay inside its stores back in 1959 . The vegetable-based snack is more environmentally friendly than the meat version , because cows and pigs are responsible for methane emissions . It also takes less energy to cook a veggieball . A spokesman said : ‘ At IKEA we want to offer healthy food choices that are delicious , sustainable and affordable for the many , based on our Swedish identity . ‘ We are currently developing our food range to provide options that meet the different preferences of our customers . ‘ One of the exciting new products is a veggieball which will be launched in our stores from April onwards . ‘ The veggie ball does not have any animal content in the ingredients . We will share more information about our new veggieballs nearer the time of the launch. ’ Meatballs are one of Sweden ’ s national dishes and as iconic as Volvo cars or the pop group Abba . Meatballs and Malm beds : Ikea is as famous for its meatballs as its cheap self-assembly furniture and the company sells one billion of its regular meatballs every year . IKEA sells 5million meatballs in the UK annually and estimates it has sold 11.6billion in the UK since 1987 . However a spokesman said last night the veggieball will not be available in the UK until May . Food contributed £1 billion to group sales last year . IKEA has 361 stores worldwide which all sell food – its meatball even has its own Facebook page . Meatballs are sold in Ikea ’ s restaurants for £3.80 and customer can also buy a frozen variety in its Swedish Food Market for £4.35 for 1kg . It has not yet revealed the cost of the veggieball . Ikea was caught up in the international food fraud scandal in 2013 when it emerged there was more than just beef and pork in its meatballs . Tests showed that there was also a significant amount of pony and horse . The business was started by billionaire Ingvar Kamprad , 88 , who started selling matches in the 1920s . The IKEA name comes from his initials along with the name of the family farm Elmtaryd which was located in the local village of Agunnaryd . His third store in Stockholm was designed to be round so customers did not cut corners whilst walking around . The flat packed idea came while shipping a table by rail . It had been damaged in transit so the idea to separate the legs was hatched to protect it . Shipping it flat was also cheaper .
IKEA hopes to save the planet with chickpea and kale 'veggie balls ' The 'non-meat meatball ' also contains carrots , peppers and peas . Swedish flat-pack firm sells one billion regular meatballs every year .