Ikea launches 65th edition of its global catalogue

Ruhsen Gelgor, store manager Ikea Doha Festival City at the launch of the new catalogue yesterday. Right: The cover of the Ikea catalogue (English) in Qatar.Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer, launched its annual catalogue yesterday in the Doha Festival City store, run by Al-Futtaim group of companies.The 65th edition of the global Ikea catalogue, launched simultaneously in 48 countries and 32 languages, has ‘Food’ as the theme. The theme and concept supporting the theme – “It’s the little things that matter” – celebrates life in and around the kitchen with the aim of bringing people together through the everyday enjoyable moments of preparing a meal and eating together. To reinforce the new theme over the next year, the catalogue focuses on four main initiatives highlighting “Growing and Producing”, “Cooking and Preparing”, “Eating, Drinking and Serving”, plus “Storing and Handling”. Each of these topics enable a healthier and more sustainable way of life while helping consumers create more special moments of togetherness while doing what they love.John Kersten, managing director, Ikea - Qatar, UAE, Egypt and Oman said: “This year at Ikea we start with the food by encouraging a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle through cooking, preparing and eating together.”“Through our Ikea Food department we are especially keen to contribute to a better everyday life with a wider offer of delicious, healthy food that is sustainably sourced and produced; all at affordable prices too.”Marking the beginning of the ‘New Ikea Year’, the 324-page catalogue together with the Ikea stores features 1,500 new products and as many ideas. This year Ikea will also be launching many new additions to its popular Restaurant and Café and Swedish Food Market. One of the newest additions to the Ikea Food family this season is the vegetarian “meatball,” which offers a healthier alternative with high protein content and an even lower carbon footprint. Visitors will also experience the new Ikea frozen yoghurt that offers a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream, plus a selection of organic products in the Swedish Food Market, which includes coffee, pasta, chocolate, cookies, jams and more. All salmon served at Ikea Restaurants & Cafés are certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, confirming that the brand follows certified sustainable practices for farming salmon. Following the sustainability thread, the Ikea Catalogue – in collaboration with 30 of the largest print suppliers in the world – is officially the largest print production ever to be printed on 100% Forest Stewardship Council Mix Credit certified paper. This means the entire production chain, from forest to printer, is FSC-certified to ensure a more sustainable origin of the wood. Also, more than half of the total energy used in the pulp, paper and print production came from renewable sources. Reaching almost 25,000 downloads in Qatar last year, the Ikea catalogue mobile application is available free of cost on iOS and Android platforms. In addition to accessing a digital version of the catalogue, the application also shares tips and ideas allowing users to view extended content such as over 50 films, image galleries, 3D images and the augmented reality function by scanning the mobile phone icon present across the catalogue pages.The augmented reality function, provides users with around 400 products that can be scanned to create furniture settings in their immediate surroundings, giving consumers the opportunity to digitally ‘try’ a product within their own home before purchasing it. Within Qatar, the Ikea catalogue is in its 3rd edition with over 260,000 copies printed. The prices printed stay true until July 2016. Available in English and Arabic, almost 194,000 copies will be delivered door to door across the country. Consumers are also invited to pick up copies of the catalogue from the Ikea store in Doha.