La Madeleine, France – June 22, 2021. Thanks to an inspiring pitch, the promising Chilean start-up NotCo won the Innovation Challenge organized by Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients and a pioneer of plant proteins. Well-known for its game-changing approach, NotCo will benefit from Roquette’s expertise in food, nutrition, and health markets.
Thirty-seven international food entrepreneurs passionate by the plant-based food revolution, competed for the Roquette Innovation Challenge hosted at the Future Food-Tech summit in New York. Three finalists were shortlisted and presented today the benefits of plant-based ideas that are contributing to the emergence of a new gastronomy.
And the winner is NotCo, a promising company founded in 2015 in Santiago, Chile, by Matias Muchnick, Pablo Zamora and Karim Pichara. NotCo is a food-tech company that produces plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. Its core mission is to find plant-based solutions to develop foods for a better nutrition while contributing to a healthier planet and without ever compromising on taste.
The start-up uses artificial intelligence to conceive a new generation of plant-based products. Their algorithm, called “Giuseppe,” is bringing new combinations of ingredients to create appealing textures, smells, colors and aromas. Their current product line includes NotMayo™, NotMilk™, NotIceCream™ and NotBurger™. As NotCo expanded from Chile to Brazil and to the rest of Latin America, its products are now available on several new markets.
Matias Muchnick, co-founder and CEO of NotCo, says: “We are here to change the everyday for everyone and everywhere. One delicious affordable mouthful at a time. We call all food lovers and the food industry alike… Let’s do this together to help our planet. Do ask why. And repeat after us, Why Not.”
According to Jeremy Burks, Senior Vice President of Plant Proteins at Roquette, “We want to be the best partner for companies around the world who share our conviction and our growth ambition in plant-based gastronomy. NotCo won the challenge thanks to its strong understanding of consumers’ expectations combined with an innovative technology to unlock the potential of nature. By using artificial intelligence, they bring gastronomy into a new era. At Roquette, we boost the current food revolution with brand new plant-based products, and we are thrilled to move forward together with our customers in the quest for exciting new gastronomic experiences.”
Roquette believes that the current food revolution and new gastronomy need appealing and tasty products to make plant-based alternatives a daily routine, a regular way to eat. To accelerate this trend, Roquette launched the Innovation Challenge to recognize the efforts of creative and limitless start-ups that are key to develop tomorrow's food. After winning this challenge, NotCo will now benefit from the support of Roquette R&D teams, taking advantage of Roquette’s numerous assets and best-in-class technologies to co-develop new solutions.
With the widest range of pea protein in the world, Roquette helps food innovators by developing a new cuisine which brings new tastes, new textures and whole new gastronomic experiences. To reinforce its leadership serving the global food revolution, Roquette has engaged in a huge investment program to ensure that the supply of plant protein is secure, safe and sustainable. This program of more than half a billion euros over a period of five years includes the expansion of the existing plant in Vic-sur-Aisne (France), the investment in a textured plant protein plant in Horst (the Netherlands) and the construction of the world’s largest pea protein plant in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba (Canada).
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