IKEA Integrates Social Enterprises Into Core Supply Chain

Ingka Group has launched the first commercial pilot of its Social Enterprise Partnership (SEP) Programme in Switzerland, marking a permanent shift towards integrating social enterprises directly into IKEA's core supply chain.

IKEA Switzerland has contracted two local social enterprises, BAND and VEBO, to deliver kitchen installation and repair services to customers with an IKEA kitchen. The move is the first live commercial result of the Social Enterprise Partnership (SEP) Programme: a global initiative that aims to integrate businesses creating employment opportunities for marginalised people into long-term supply chain partnerships.

Raphael Guillard, Global Supply Chain Partnerships Leader, Ingka Group, says: "This pilot in Switzerland shows something we’ve long believed: that social enterprises are not a compromise: they are a real supply chain option. The SEP Programme exists to unlock exactly this kind of partnership, and we intend to replicate it across markets. Inclusive employment and business performance are not in tension.

“This proves they can go hand in hand."

Building a framework for inclusive sourcing

The Social Enterprise Partnership (SEP) Programme is a structured global framework built on a powerhouse collaboration designed to bridge corporate supply chains with inclusive businesses.

Since 2012, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship has backed nearly 200 social enterprises across 35 countries, preparing them to scale into viable, corporate-ready commercial partners.

Yunus Social Innovation leverages its deep strategic expertise to help major corporations design inclusive value chains by successfully sourcing from social enterprises.

Together, these organisations provide the methodology, infrastructure and local matching capabilities required to seamlessly connect individual Ingka markets with qualified social enterprises.

Starting May 2026 across central and western Switzerland, BAND will manage direct kitchen assemblies, while VEBO will initially handle after-sales and repairs before expanding into full installations. Operating at a comparable cost to traditional vendors, both organisations treat the employment of people with disabilities and those requiring extra support not as a charitable add-on, but as a core, deliberate business model.

Thomas Wuillemin, Corporate Development & Project Manager at BAND Genossenschaft, says: "This partnership shows that inclusion and business excellence go hand in hand: when people with and without support needs collaborate as a matter of course, it creates quality, reliability and measurable social impact."

Rethinking the conventional trade model

In practice, this initiative replaces the conventional two-carpenter model by staffing each kitchen installation or repair visit with a licensed supervisor working alongside an employee with a disability.

This innovative approach allows the partner companies to deliver commercial-grade services while actively expanding high-quality employment opportunities for individuals who are frequently excluded from skilled trades.

The customer journey remains entirely seamless and straightforward. When a customer requires a repair, IKEA's internal support team forwards the request directly to BAND or VEBO.

Stephan Bitterli, Head of the Carpentry Department at VEBO Genossenschaft, says: We are delighted about this exciting new partnership, which opens significant growth potential for both parties whilst also enabling us to enter a promising and sustainable new business sector."

Scaling agility and collaboration

IKEA handles shipping the necessary spare parts straight to the customer’s home, while the social enterprise partner schedules and executes the service visit. Rather than acting as an external referral or a charitable add-on, this is a fully integrated, native service offering.

Annik Müller, Sustainability Business Partner, IKEA Switzerland, adds: "They’re very fast at setting up new solutions, and they are very willing to test and try.

"They brought ideas we hadn’t considered: new repair services, new business models. It was a good reminder to stay open, and that is exactly the collaborative energy we want to build on."

Both enterprises bring established roots in Switzerland and a proven track record of inclusive employment, and will receive ongoing support to scale their operations and employ additional people with disabilities as the pilot grows. The pilot is being run with an intentionally iterative approach, testing and refining the workflow in real time based on live customer feedback.