From field waste to food bowl
By tapping into the unused leaves of Sweden’s broccoli harvest, Axfoundation and partners have created a new ingredient now featured in IKEA’s latest soup.
Half of all broccoli grown in Sweden never makes it beyond the farm – much of it left behind in the field at harvest.
Now, thanks to a collaboration between Axfoundation and Grönsakshallen Sorunda, those overlooked broccoli leaves are being transformed into a brand‑new food product: a broccoli leaf soup debuting at IKEA Sweden.
Although the broccoli plant is made up mostly of stems and leaves, only the florets – around 20 per cent of the plant – are typically harvested. The rest is usually left to decompose, despite the fact that roughly half of the leaves are fully edible and rich in nutrients.
According to The Whole Plant Initiative, simply harvesting the upper leaves could effectively double Sweden’s broccoli yield without using any additional land, water, or agricultural inputs.
To unlock this potential, Axfoundation brought together growers, processors, wholesalers, and food companies to test how broccoli leaves could be used at scale.
Building on research from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the team ran pilot trials at Axfoundation’s Torsåker Farm and worked with Grönsakshallen Sorunda to refine a production method. The leaves are chopped, packaged, and gently heat‑treated to preserve their colour, flavour, and texture – making them suitable for a wide range of dishes, even as a spinach alternative.
The most tangible outcome of this work is now hitting the menu at IKEA Sweden: a broccoli leaf soup that turns what was once agricultural waste into a nutritious, affordable, plant‑based meal. For IKEA, the soup reflects its commitment to “creating more from less” and expanding access to sustainable, plant‑forward food options.
Beginning at the end of January, the soup will be served in all IKEA stores across Sweden in limited quantities. The long‑term ambition is to scale up and make use of even more broccoli leaves during the 2026 harvest.
The initiative highlights a major opportunity in Sweden’s food system. Nearly 70 per cent of edible broccoli is currently lost along the supply chain, and vegetable intake remains low among both children and adults.
Broccoli leaves – naturally high in fibre and vitamins C and K – offer a nutrient‑dense, climate‑smart ingredient that can help close both gaps.
By turning an underused part of the plant into a commercial product, Axfoundation, Grönsakshallen Sorunda, and IKEA are demonstrating how smarter use of existing crops can benefit farmers, consumers, and the planet – all without growing a single extra hectare of food.
