The Checkout: NotCo Launches NotChicken; Marley Spoon Acquires Chefgood

Adrianne DeLuca

Welcome to The Checkout: an express lane for the weekly news you need to know, always 10 items or less.

 

NotCo Launches Launches Latest Plant-based Imitation: NotChicken

Food tech company NotCo introduced its plant-based chicken product, NotChicken, at over 980 retailers in Chile, Argentina and Brazil this week in four formats: NotChickenNuggets, NotChickenBurger, NotChickenBurgerCrispy and NotChickenFillet. Alongside this launch, the company will be expanding distribution of NotChicken to the U.S. and Canada, though an exact timeline was not specified. In addition to launching at retail, NotChicken will also be available at multiple restaurants within Latin America.

The plant-based chicken alternative, which uses ingredients including peas, chickpeas, bamboo and peaches, was created with NotCo’s artificial intelligence platform, named Guisseppe. The technology works by examining “thousands” of plant-based ingredients to find the “ideal replacements” for any selected animal protein.

“When I first tried it, it was hard to believe I was enjoying the crunchiness, juiciness, and flavor of a chicken made from fruits and vegetables,” said Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer, an investor in NotCo, in a press release. “NotCo has found a way to produce a product with plants that improves upon many versions of actual chicken.”

In tandem with its debut, NotCo’s in-house agency NotAgency has activated its first campaign – NotChicken Golden Era of Chicken – in support of the product’s launch and will air across Latin America on social media and digital outlets.

“What we have achieved in terms of superior taste and texture is a true reflection of the impact we can make if we believe that things can be done better,” said Matias Muchnick, CEO and Co-Founder of NotCo, in a press release. “None of this could be done without the help of Giuseppe, our patented AI that is transforming plant-based innovation. NotChicken is just the latest in what we have planned as we celebrate the beginning of a new golden era for chicken.”

This launch closes out a year of significant growth across NotCo’s portfolio, with the introduction of over 20 new products including NotBurger, NotMeat, NotIceCream and NotMayo and expansion to four new markets – Canada, Mexico, Colombia and Peru. The company also added over 3,000 points of sale in the U.S. this year and closed a $235 funding round in June to accelerate the expansion of its NotMilk line which launched stateside in late 2020.

Martha Stewart’s Marley Spoon Service to Acquire Australian Meal Company Chefgood

Meal-kit delivery service Marley Spoon is amping up its presence in Australia, announcing this week it has reached an agreement to acquire Melbourne-based ready-to-heat meal company Chefgood. The acquisition gives Marley Spoon a “complementary category” play in the ready-to-eat market and joins a portfolio which also includes Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon and “15-minute dinner kit” service, Dinnerly. The deal is expected to close in January 2022.

Currently, Marley Spoon is available for delivery in the U.S. and internationally including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. According to the company, this acquisition will allow for cross-selling and promotional capabilities which it expects to increase basket sizes and engagement between both platforms.

“We are all about healthy, tasty, honest food,” said Chefgood founder and CEO Michelle Sievwright in a press release. “Everyone at Chefgood is looking forward to working with Marley Spoon as we share their same philosophy of delighting our customers.”

Chefgood’s service offers a range of better-for-you, diet-specific meals, including low carb, high protein, vegan and non-dairy offerings made using locally sourced ingredients. The selection of meals rotate each week along with additional add-on items all of which it self-manufactures and delivers weekly between Saturday and Tuesday.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Michelle and the Chefgood team since we are sharing the same vision of making our customers’ lives easier with easy, tasty, and high-quality meal solutions,” said Rolf Weber, MD Australia, global COO and member of the Management Board at Marley Spoon, in a press release.

Dole Resigns Partnership With No Kid Hungry Campaign

Global food company Dole renewed its partnership with the No Kid Hungry Campaign through 2022 and will continue supporting the organization with direct product donations, nutrition education and activating at-retail initiatives to address hunger and combat childhood hunger in America.

First partnering after school closings caused millions of children across the country to face food insecurity during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dole will now expand the partnership as the sponsor for the livestream wellness and fitness program Get Fit for No Kid Hungry throughout January to support fundraising efforts for the organization.

“At Dole we want to keep improving situations for communities in the areas where we operate,” said William Goldfield, Dole Food Company’s director of corporate communications, in a press release. “We care about being a positive force of change in peoples’ everyday lives. Addressing hunger and food insecurity for children is at the core of our purpose as a fresh produce company. Promoting health and wellbeing and driving consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is one way we can help every day.”

This partnership expansion comes weeks after Dole announced another ESG-focused initiative within its newly established Dole Specialty Ingredients (DSI) business. DSI aims to create a pilot upcycling line within its existing Philippines production facility that will utilize wasted fruit side streams such as seeds and stems from bananas, pineapples and papayas to create “high-value” products while reducing food waste.

Food Tech Company Kernel Mycofoods Closes Funding Round, Hints At IPO Potential

Argentinian food tech startup Kernel Mycofoods announced last week it has raised approximately $15 million from its most recent funding round, which included participation from Union Group Ventures. The alt-protein maker also hinted at the potential for an IPO in 2022, supported by Union Group.

Currently, Kernel is working to produce sustainable alternative proteins using “fungi fermentation” and its proprietary AI technology and robotics, and is an ongoing competitor in the Feed the Next Billion competition, a multi-year competition with a $15 million prize to create sustainable, whole-cut meat alternatives. The company said it has received over $250 million in product orders to-date and will begin distribution in early 2022.

The company’s technology also includes a range of production capabilities from industrial-level to a prototyped kitchen-appliance-sized personal “Mycofactory” which would enable in-home, self-manufacturing for individual families. “Biotechnology and AI are beginning to converge, and by harnessing them we will reduce both price and time to market,” said Lucas Gago, Kernel’s COO, in a press release.

As for its potential IPO, the company said it is considering this route to support long term growth plans which include breaking ground on its first industrial-sized facility, filing additional patents and accelerating its production capacity over the next five years. The company was founded with a mission to reduce childhood malnutrition by increasing access to sustainable proteins.