NEW TECH FOODS

It’s easy to get caught up in the news and activities of the industry’s global giants, but what about the smaller firms pushing boundaries with bold ideas? In this instalment of start-up spotlight – which celebrates lesser-known companies and their innovations – we speak to Matias Muchnick, CEO of NotCo AI, a company that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to create innovative products that mimic the taste and texture of animal-based foods.

For readers who may not be familiar, can you briefly introduce NotCo and its mission in the food-tech space?

Founded and headquartered in Santiago, Chile, NotCo helps food and beverage companies identify white spaces in the market and collapse the traditional 18-24 month time-to-market paradigm into a matter of weeks. By transforming the historically analog R&D cycle through its proprietary AI platform, Giuseppe AI, NotCo enables enterprises to move beyond siloed, intuition-driven processes and rapidly respond to shifting consumer preferences.

With a variety of services, including end-to-end product development, renovation and management, NotCo has been driving transformation for seven of the world’s top 20 CPG companies, including a joint venture with Kraft Heinz (The Kraft Heinz Not Company) to create products such as NotMac&Cheese and NotMayo.

How does your proprietary AI platform, Giuseppe AI, work? What makes it different from traditional R&D methods?

Giuseppe AI is the first patented end-to-end system that treats food and beverage innovation as a data problem, not a chemistry experiment, transforming concepts into market-ready products at unprecedented speed and scale.

Unlike tradition R&D, Giuseppe dramatically shortens the product lifecycle by synthesising molecular gastronomy, consumer sentiment analysis, supply chain optimisation and predictive market modeling, to act as a single decision-making engine.

Its 'creative intelligence' moves beyond automating existing processes to generate entirely new concepts and identify unexplored market opportunities, allowing enterprises to ask, “What should exist?” instead of “What can we make?”

What was the inspiration behind developing a cocoa-free chocolate and brownie?

Due to cocoa prices doubling and supply chains under strain, cocoa businesses are facing huge market constraints. The industry is also grappling with adverse weather, climate change, soil degradation and widespread crop diseases, creating one of the most volatile periods in cocoa’s history. These challenges inspired NotCo to develop a cocoa-free chocolate alternative that is cost-stable, scalable and high quality through its AI platform, Giuseppe.

The industry is experiencing a wake-up call that the way products are made and sourced may have to fundamentally change and NotCo wanted to be part of that change through its cocoa-free alternatives.

How did Giuseppe AI identify the ingredient combinations that could replicate cocoa’s flavour, texture and melt without using cocoa?

Using its end-to-end AI platform, Giuseppe AI, NotCo is transforming how the consumer industry innovates, formulates and grows – making product development faster, better and more effective than ever before. R&D in food is an extremely complex, multi-dimensional, multi-objective and combinatorial paradox with trillions of possible ingredient interactions. Giuseppe AI empowers brands to reimagine what’s possible by streamlining this complexity and uncovering novel solutions that humans alone might never consider.

The process starts with a clear target: a product to match or surpass. This could be a dairy cheese, legacy snack or nostalgic treat like chocolate. Giuseppe captures the product’s profile, incorporating analytical data (like pH and viscosity), sensory attributes (such as creaminess or crunch) and consumer-relevant factors (like allergen status or clean label compliance). Food scientists identify key inputs and objectives, translating subjective attributes into structured, measurable data the AI can use.

After identifying the product opportunity, Giuseppe AI then formulates from thousands of ingredients optimised for taste, cost, sourcing and compliance, drawing on its vast knowledge base to identify unconventional, high-performance ingredient combinations. In the case of cocoa-free chocolate, Giuseppe AI combined upcycled cereals, fermented seeds and endemic Chilean grains, alongside microbial and enzymatic processes, to replicate cocoa’s flavour, texture and melt, to deliver 50% cocoa flavour equivalence, 40% less added sugar and rich taste and smooth melt of traditional chocolate without a single cocoa bean.

How significant is cocoa’s environmental footprint? How does your alternative compare in terms of sustainability?

Cocoa’s environmental footprint is massive, driven by resource-intensive farming, climate pressures and soil degradation.

Through advanced fermentation and Giuseppe, NotCo was able to recreate the traditional taste and texture of chocolate from sustainable, upcycled ingredients like fermented cereals and seeds, combined with sustainable crops, giving manufacturers a cost-effective, ethical alternative that isn’t exposed to cocoa market volatility or tariff hikes. This same approach has also powered products like Coffee-Free Cold Brew, crafted from roasted grains, seeds, natural bitter and plant-based caffeine.

How does removing cocoa help address supply chain volatility and cost challenges in the confectionery industry?

Cocoa-free chocolate offers a transformative solution. By reducing dependence on a resource-intensive and volatile commodity, it stabiliSes supply chains, mitigates tariff exposure and lowers environmental impact, without sacrificing indulgence or quality. Because this method isn’t exposed to tariff hikes or market volatility, it doesn’t just address these issues, it completely avoids them. For CPG brand navigating rising tariffs, manufacturing challenges and climate uncertainty.

Giuseppe offers a way to rethink how products are built from the ground up, helping companies develop cost-stable ethical alternatives that future-proof their products across brownies, chocolate bars, coatings, spreads and more.

 What other ingredients or categories are you targeting for reformulation using Giuseppe?

Beyond cocoa, NotCo is exploring coffee through its AI-powered innovations. With coffee futures at a ten-year high and new tariffs on South American imports threatening supply chains, Giuseppe developed a cold brew that mimics the experience of coffee using roasted grains, seeds, natural bitter and plant-derived caffeine.

This approach offers a practical, sustainable alternative that redefines what coffee can taste like, while helping brands reduce commodity risk and build more resilient, cost-stable products.

How do you see AI shaping the future of product development in the food and beverage sector over the next decade?

AI is entering a new phase in the food industry, moving from broad, general-purpose models to domain specific platforms designed to master the complexity of regulated sectors. Giuseppe exemplifies this shift by transforming traditional product development.

Over the next decade, AI will enable food and beverage brands to explore and optimise novel ingredients, enhance texture and flavour, integrate functional benefits and avoid volatile commodity pricing. Vertical AI is no longer a novelty; it is the backbone of innovation, helping brands move faster, smarter and more sustainably while redefining what’s possible for food technology.