May 9, 2022

Chilean plant-based brand NotCo has launched its milk alternative, NotMilk, at Starbucks Colombia. The plant-based milk will be available at all the coffee chain’s locations in the country. NotCo CEO Matias Muchnick said the launch was “fulfilling”, given that Colombia is often considered the coffee capital of the world. It follows on from the brand’s previous launch in the US, including at the Northeast’s largest food retailer Stop & Shop. Milk made with artificial intelligence NotMilk differs from other alt-milk brands because a proprietary artificial intelligence technology has been used to find the best plant-based replacements for milk proteins. According to the company, this means that NotMilk replicates conventional milk more closely than other alt-dairy products on the market. Last year, NotCo’s technology won it the top spot on Fast Company’s list of the most innovative companies in Latin America. “Consumers believe that switching to plant-based means you have to make sacrifices,” CEO Muchnick told vegconomist last year. “Two-thirds of dairy consumers are open to plant-based milk, but taste is still a barrier. We wanted to create a product that eliminates the need for consumers to make a trade-off. Five years ago, we set out on this journey and have since become the fastest-growing food tech brand in Latin America.” ...