IKEA Switzerland Contracts Social Enterprises Through Partnership Program

May 28, 2026  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

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 marginalized people into long-term supply chain partnerships.

"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,” says Raphael Guillard, global supply chain partnerships leader, Ingka Group

The SEP Programme is a structured global effort developed jointly by Ingka Group, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, and Yunus Social Innovation (YSI). IKEA Social Entrepreneurship is the IKEA-backed initiative that has supported close to 200 social enterprises across 35 countries since 2012, specializing in helping inclusive businesses reach the scale needed to operate as credible commercial partners. ​YSI ​​​brings deep expertise in social ​​innovation,​​​ ​helping large corporations build inclusive value chains by sourcing from ​and partner​ing with ​​social enterprises.

Together, they provide the framework, methodology, and on-the-ground matching capability that connects Ingka markets with local social enterprises ready to deliver.

Switzerland is the first market to reach the programme milestone of contracting a social enterprise as a live supply chain partner. Starting this month (May, 2026) in the central and western part of Switzerland, BAND will begin kitchen assemblies directly, while VEBO will start with after-sales and repair calls before moving to full kitchen installation. Both companies will be integrated into IKEA Switzerland’s central supply chain platform and receive orders alongside other kitchen service providers, at comparable cost. Both employ people with disabilities and those who need additional support as a core part of their workforce. This is not a social add-on but a deliberate business model. 

A new model for inclusive service delivery 

In practice, each kitchen installation or repair visit will be staffed by a licensed supervisor alongside a person with a disability, ​​replacing the conventional two-carpenter model. This approach allows both companies to deliver commercial-grade services while actively expanding employment opportunities for people who are often excluded from skilled trades. 

The customer journey is straightforward by design. When a repair is needed, IKEA’s customer support team forwards the request directly to BAND or VEBO. IKEA ships the necessary spare parts to the customer’s home; the social enterprise partner schedules and carries out the visit. This is a fully integrated service offer, not a referral or add-on.

"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,” comments Annik Müller, sustainability business partner, IKEA Switzerland

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.

"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,” adds Thomas Wuillemin, corporate development & project manager at BAND Genossenschaft.