NotCo is a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an food-tech company producing plant-based alternatives to animal-based food products. NotCo was founded in 2015 by Matias Muchnick, Pablo Zamora and Karim Pichara and utilizes

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

to replicate dairy products in plant-based forms. NotCo is Latin America's fastest growing food company.

History

NotCo was founded in

in 2015 by three technologists; Matias Muchnick (CEO), Karim Pichara (CTO), and Pablo Zamora. NotCo is now part-owned by The Craftory, Jeff Bezos'

Bezos Expeditions Bezos Expeditions is an American investment firm based in Mercer Island, Washington. It serves as a family office for Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos by managing his personal investments. The firm invests in early stage ventures, late stage venture ...

and others. NotCo was created with the view of using

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

. Its algorithm, Giuseppe, whose first version was created by Karim Pichara, which was patented in 2021, utilizes lists of plant ingredients to find the ideal combinations to recreate specific food attributes. This aims to replicate various food tastes, textures and cooking behaviors. Its NotMilk includes both pineapple and cabbage, allowing it to cook in the same way as

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

Products

NotCo's current product line includes NotMayo, NotMilk (1%, 2% and whole), NotIceCream and NotBurger. As NotCo expanded from Chile to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and the rest of Latin America, it brought these products to new markets. As of 2021, the US market only holds NotMilk, retailed at

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

Sprouts Farmers Market Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., is a supermarket chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The grocer offers a wide selection of natural and organic foods, including fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, mea ...

Wegmans Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a privately held American supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Gates, New York, and was founded in 1916 in Rochester. As of , Wegmans has 110 stores, mostly in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions. T ...

and others. * Not Mayo * Not Milk * Not IceCream * Not Burger * Not Meat

Collaborations

As of 2021, 'NotMeat' is being used across Chile supplying both

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

and Papa John's pizzerias' vegan options.

Investments

In September 2020, NotCo raised $85m in a Series C funding round. Its investors include challenger brand VC fund The Craftory, Jeff Bezos'

and others. This funding has likely been used to fund NotCo's US debut in November 2020.

Awards

In 2021, NotCo was announced among ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

''s "World’s Most Innovative Companies".

References

{{Reflist Chilean companies established in 2015