Kraft Heinz and foodtech NotCo join forces in new JV

Chilean foodtech NotCo has announced a joint venture with food giant Kraft Heinz. The new company, dubbed The Kraft Heinz Not Company, will combine NotCo‘s patented technology and artificial intelligence solutions with Kraft Heinz‘s portfolio and scale to develop plant-based versions of co-branded products. According to the firms, this will be done “at a level of speed, taste, quality and scale yet to be seen in the industry.”

The Kraft Heinz Not Company will be headquartered in Chicago, with research and development facilities in San Francisco. The new developments will see Lucho Lopez-May, currently president for North America at NotCo, becoming president of The Kraft Heinz Not Company. Lopez-May was previously president of Garland Foods and president of strategic growth channels for Danone before that.

Why combine NotCo and Kraft Heinz?

“The joint venture with TheNotCompany is a critical step in transforming our product portfolio and a tremendous addition to our design capabilities for brand equity,” said Miguel Patricio, president of Kraft Heinz, in a statement. “This helps fulfill our vision of delivering cleaner, greener, and more delicious products to consumers. We believe the technology that NotCo brings is revolutionizing the creation of delicious plant-based foods with simpler ingredients.”

Sign up for Startup’s weekly newsletter in English

For NotCo, the merger with Kraft represents huge gains in scale in the horizon, as well as significant inroads in the foodtech’s plan to partner with other food brands and provide ingredients for their new product lines. The equivalent of an “Intel Inside” seal for the plant-based food world.

“When we started NotCo, our goal was to make our technology a catalyst for a more sustainable food system not just for us, but for other brands and manufacturers who share the same ambition,” said Matias Muchnick, co-founder and president at NotCo in a statement.

“Today marks an exciting milestone for the plant-based industry and showcases the power of technology’s role in driving general public adoption. We are thrilled to be partnering with Kraft Heinz, its iconic brands, and to be working side by side to build a more sustainable food system,” he added.

A small world

The association with Kraft Heinz is interesting from both companies’ strategic point of view, and it does not come by chance. As a major investor, the food giant has 3G Capital, the investment firm led by Brazilian-Swiss billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann. Lemann is the father of Lara Lemann, a partner at Maya Capital, one of NotCo‘s early investors.

In early 2021, Lemann resigned from Kraft Heinz‘s board, a position he has held since the business was created in 2015 after the merger of Warren Buffett’s HJ Heinz and Kraft Foods. At the time, the company said that the decision was not the result of disagreements with management or the board concerning the company’s situation – which was not going well – but part of the octogenarian billionaire’s plan to “reduce his travel commitments.”

(translation by Angelica Mari)