In this interview, NotCo co‑founder and CEO Matias Muchnick explains how the Chilean alternative‑protein startup differentiates itself by using an artificial‑intelligence platform to discover plant‑based ingredient combinations that replicate the taste, texture, smell and price of animal products. He describes the AI workflow that maps the sensory profile of animal foods to a vast library of over 300,000 plant species, enabling rapid, cross‑category product development—from dairy and eggs to a forthcoming plant‑based fish/tuna slated for market this year. Muchnick emphasizes that matching the exact sensory experience at an affordable price is essential for mainstream adoption. He also discusses NotCo’s environmental narrative, positioning plant‑based foods as a resource‑efficient solution to deforestation, water scarcity, and climate change. The conversation touches on the company’s $368 million funding round, high‑profile backers such as Bezos Expeditions and Danny Meyer, and a joint venture with Kraft Heinz, as well as the pitch process to Jeff Bezos. Finally, he addresses consumer concerns about ingredient lists, highlighting the nutritional completeness of NotCo products and the company’s strategy for marketing whole‑food, wholesome alternatives.
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Alternative protein companies raised $5 billion in 2021. That's according to the Good Food Institute. That was 5 times as much as in 2019. And one of those companies is a Chilean startup called NotCo, whose backers include investment funds of Jeff Bezos and Danny Meyer. It recently started a joint venture with food giant Kraft Heinz. NotCo CEO and founder Matthias Muschnik joins us now. Matthias, thanks so much for being here. First of all, I would ask you, I mean, we've talked to some other plant-based food companies, alternative protein companies, Beyond Meat, Impossible, we know the names. What makes NotCo different? Is there a taste difference? Is there a development difference? Talk to me about the company.
I would say that fundamentally, you know, we're trying, everyone's trying to do, you know, and create a better food system. But in our case, I would say that we leverage artificial intelligence in a way that is allowing us to create food products faster, better, more accurate, less costly, and more affordable than anyone else in the space. And I think that's one of the things that has allowed us to create a company that has raised $368 million, executing in 8 different countries, 5 different categories of products. So we are very cross-category product. And I think, you know, maybe we've only seen in the space companies that advocate for only one replacement of products. So we have milk, eggs, you know, and dairy replacement. And, you know, that is pretty unique for our company. And, you know, utilizing AI has allowed us to do this faster than, you know, maybe the other challengers in the space.
When you say you use AI, walk us through that process. Is technology to the point where you can essentially go out there and create AI-driven fish and that product might be on the market at some point this year?
100%, actually, it's gonna be in the market this year. So what the artificial intelligence element does is basically understand food. So one of the biggest problems we had in the food industry is that we don't understand what we eat. So basically what we've done is understand the food that traditionally comes from animals, and then we understand the world of plants. There are more than 300,000 species of plants in the world that we have no idea what they can do. We have no idea if the combination of pineapple and cabbage can create the taste of milk. And by the way, it does, right? So, but it's not gonna be a human being that understands that. It's an artificial intelligence platform that is allowing us to predict which combination of plant-based ingredients should result in the same sensory experience as target product. We always thought that we're not gonna change anything, you know, in the consumer dynamics and change people from animal-based to plant-based if we don't replicate exactly the same experience at the right price, which is another factor that is very, very important. You know, price and affordability is the number one driver of this, you know, category to be mainstream or just to be a premium, you know, sector.
I wish you could see some of the responses when you said AI fish here in our Slack channel. What is AI fish? Does it smell like fish? Does it have the mouth feel like fish? What is AI-driven fish?
No, no, forget about the back, you know, the behind the scenes, right? So ideally what we wanna do is to really understand what is a piece of fish, right? What is a fish, right? And you have different types of fish. You have salmon, you have tuna, you know? And so first we need to understand what a, you know, what a cut of tuna is. And we do it through data. So we extract data to understand what that piece of tuna is in order for the algorithm to understand which plant-based ingredients that are available out there that we know about, you know, what is the combination, the right combination of those ingredients that will result in that cut of fish, that piece of tuna, right? So the AI works behind the scenes. What you're gonna see is a product, a plant-based product that tastes, smells, looks, and, you know, has the price of a tuna fish. That's, you know, AI is the research side, is the more product development side, but it's not the product that you're gonna see. You're gonna see with plant-based ingredients, a product put in the aisles of every supermarket here in the US.
Now, Matthias, I eat plant-based products, full disclosure here, but whether you're talking about your company or your competitors, you have to admit there's something like not super appetizing about the process, if you will, or even if you look at the ingredients and you see oil, pea protein, you know, various other sort of additives. So how do you, how do you market it? How do you sort of convince people that this is, you know, sort of whole food or wholesome food, for lack of a better term?
Yeah, that's, that's a great question. And I think we need to understand that we just started to use, you know, technology and science to really understand what animal-based products are. You know, 10 years ago, we didn't know what made, you know, the appetite appeal or the taste or the texture, the smell or the color of a piece of meat. We just didn't understand. Right. So what we're doing here is to utilizing or understanding the world of plants, what plants out there can really recreate what animal-based products are. Right. And sometimes we need to put together puzzles to really create, you know, what, what the animal-based product is. So what we're putting out there, it is a combination of ingredients, but it it is a combination of ingredients that deliver not only the sensory experience, but it is, you know, packed with nutrients. I mean, our burger, you know, and the challengers, you know, products as well, they are packed with nutrients where they're packed with proteins, they're packed with, you know, fibers, where they're packed with things that really, you know, the human being needs. So it's not only about the sensory experience, it's about the delivery of nutrition as well. If you think about the industry itself, it's an industry that, you know, distribute nutrition throughout the world. That's basically the main purpose of the food industry, right? But the food industry has been making this in a very inefficient way in terms of use of resources, water, energy, oil, land. You know, it's become the common denominator to every major environmental ill known to humankind. You know, deforestation, land use, water scarcity, ocean depletion. So what we're doing here is replacing the animal. And we just began to understand how to replace the animal. To deliver the same taste, texture, smell, and color, but using way more efficient resources and protecting climate change. That is something that our generation is living firsthand.
You have a lot of big-name backers in the company here. Did you get to pitch Jeff Bezos directly? What does that process look like?
I did not. I did not. So I pitched to Melinda Levinsohn. She's one of the partners at Bezos Expeditions. She did cross the idea, the pitch, the deck with Jeff, and the decision was made by Jeff. So, you know, I know that he knows about us, but we have not yet had the chance to cook or, you know, have a direct conversation with Jeff.
Well, I would be very interested to see him trying your products, or maybe, you know, who knows, maybe Shake Shack eventually will have some of the NotCo products. I'm sure, sure, that's a goal for you guys. Really interesting stuff, Mattia. Matthias, thank you so much. Matthias Muschnik, NotCo CEO and founder. Thanks for your time.
