A South American giant slowly creating a plant-based global empire
NotCo seemed to come out of nowhere, but I’m sure it’s been a calculated approach since the company was founded a decade ago. As you’ll see, this company sticks to its Chilean roots while being strategic in how it rolls out on other continents.
I’ve really enjoyed the videos they’ve used in their product launch campaigns to North America. Besides Simulate (which was acquired by Ahimsa in 2024), NotCo is the closest thing to a plant-based version of the “No Name” brand.
Let’s learn about the tactics that form NotCo’s marketing strategy.
Date founded: 2015
Headquartered in: Santiago, Chile
Founder(s): Karim Pichara Baksai, Matias Muchnick, Pablo Zamora
Current CEO: Matias Muchnick
Current COO: Jose Menendez
Current CMO/Marketing Director: Louise McKerrow
Annual revenue: $209m
Annual marketing budget: Unknown
Here’s NotCo Co-Founder & CEO Matias Muchnick talking to Axial in 2022 about what makes the company different from other plant-based alt companies.
Products/services:
- NotMilk (regular and chocolate milk)
- NotSquare (No sugar chocolate protein squares)
- NotChori (Vegan chorizo)
- NotProtein (Protein bars)
- NotMayo (Mayonnaise)
- NotIce Cream
- NotBurger (Burger patties)
- NotChicken (Chicken burgers and nuggets)
- Not Mila (Protein strips)
- NotHot Dog
- NotCo Plant Based Mac and Cheese (in collaboration with Kraft Heinz)
Most of these are only available to the Latin American market, but you’ll likely recognize some products in your store.
Brand features:
1. Spanish-language marketing
NotCo’s main social media account is in Spanish to cater to their largest audience: South Americans. Most of their products are available in Chile. The Spanish language site has the full array of products.
The Canadian website offers the NotMayo, milk, and chicken products. The American site offers the milk, collaborative projects with Kraft Heinz, mayo, and some “meat” products.
NotCo has a main Instagram page and separate ones for NotCo USA and NotCo Canada. It has regional identities in Latin America, Canada, and the USA, displaying relevant collaborations in each region, like the Oscar Mayer collab with Kraft Heinz in the USA.
2. AI innovation
NotCo sets itself apart in the plant-based space through its own artificial intelligence platform, Giuseppe. It is an advanced algorithm that analyzes the molecular structure of thousands of plants to recreate the taste, texture, and behaviour of animal-based foods. Giuseppe helped NotCo reverse-engineer products like milk and mayonnaise.
NotCo’s use of AI helps with faster product development, better scaling abilities and takes experimentation to a level other plant-based food companies haven’t seemed to match. Unlike its competitors who rely on typical R&D, NotCo operates like a tech company.
3. Unique ingredients
One of NotCo’s largest differentiators is its use of unconventional plant-based ingredients to create new products. It uses atypical ingredients to “replicate the sensory experience of animal-based foods.” Instead of using ingredients like soy, oats, or coconut, NotCo uses combinations of cabbage, pineapple, bamboo fibre to make their products like NotMilk and NotChicken.
These ingredients were chosen for their molecular properties, with the help of Giuseppe.
Top marketing tactics
1. Product launch campaigns
NotCo’s marketing team focuses primarily on product launch campaigns which are aggressive and entail lots of content. Its social media channels are primarily posts about its products.
2. Honouring Chilean roots
Several ads on NotCo’s social media are centred around its country of origin, Chile.
@thenotco Para todxs los team ketchup, creamos una mejor versión que tiene tomates chilenos, sin sellos y cero (sí, cero) azúcar. Para ketechupe un huevo cuánto le pones a tu comida, lit
♬ sonido original - The Not Company
3. Trends
NotCo gets involved in global food trends like Louis Vuitton’s chocolate purse and the NotSquare, which uses Dubai-style chocolate. While I don’t like that this product is a direct rip-off of Canada’s Mid-Day Squares, it shows that NotCo takes trends seriously and has the resources to roll out and test products regularly.
Website: notco.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/thenotcompany
Instagram: @thenotco @notcocanada @notcous
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/the-not-co-
YouTube: YouTube.com/@thenotcompany
TikTok: @thenotco
X: @thenotco
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