NotCo, Grillo’s and Nudge Announce New Partnerships to Boost Marketing and Brand Awareness

NotCo, Grillo’s and Nudge recently announced new partnerships with well-known QSR chains and sports stadiums to boost marketing and brand awareness regarding their respective products. NotCo partnered with Shake Shack to create dairy-free iterations of two popular frozen treats while Grillo’s Pickles and Nudge collaborated with MLB sports teams to bring their products to the stadium.

NotCo Partners With Shake Shack to Launch Dairy-Free Treats

Fast casual restaurant chain Shake Shack teamed up with plant-based food and beverage company TheNotCompany, Inc. to launch dairy-free versions of two popular menu items: The Chocolate Shake and the Chocolate Frozen Custard.

Both non-dairy treats are made from a base of plant-based frozen custard that utilizes NotCo’s NotMilk, a milk alternative that matches the animal proteins and flavors found in traditional milk to their ideal plant-based alternative, including chicory root, coconut, peas, cabbage and pineapple.

“Shake Shack is a brand that I’ve always loved and grew up enjoying,” said Matias Muchnick, CEO and co-founder of NotCo, in a press release. “Their food is unfussy, consistently delicious, and high quality. In a way, Shake Shack has created the perfect blueprint for what we want to emulate with our plant-based foods, and we’re excited to be kicking off this journey into food service with their team.”

Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer’s Enlightened Hospitality Investments (EHI) is an investor in NotCo and Meyer serves as an advisor to NotCo’s board of directors.

The collaboration with NotCo is part of Shake Shack’s Stand for Something Good mission, focused on the company’s “commitment to delivering an elevated guest experience and sourcing premium ingredients to supporting and investing in people and communities around the world.”

NotCo has looked to partnerships with well-known corporations and restaurants as a means of drawing marketing attention to the brand as well as expanding use cases for its products. In Argentina the company partnered with Mostaza, a 150 location fast food chain, to launch a new line of Mega NotBurgers, while in Chile, where NotCo was founded, Burger King released a RebelWhopper made with the company’s burger patties.

The U.S. represents a new market for the venture-backed company, which first debuted its NotMilk on American store shelves in 2020 before launching its NotBurger earlier this year.

Partnering with Shake Shack comes just months after NotCo announced a joint venture with Kraft Heinz to rethink the company’s classic products with a plant-based bent. The Latin American company last summer tried to introduce new consumers to its NotMilk by partnering with 100 independent coffee shops in New York City to offer free samples of cold brew lattes made with the milk alternative.

The new plant-based, non-dairy treats are available at select Shake Shack locations in New York and Florida for a limited time.

Grillo’s Pickles Hits a Home Run With the Boston Red Sox

Grillo’s Pickles has entered the big leagues. The Boston-based brand was recently named the official pickle of the Red Sox.

“Grillo’s Pickles was born in downtown Boston and has been captivating locals since its inception in 2008, so it only made sense for us to finally team up with the best team in baseball,” Eddie Andre, Grillo’s director of brand experience, said in a statement. “We hope they will become a Fenway favorite.”

Located at Gate K, the Grillo’s Pickle Stand will carry two specialty sandwiches: a Pickledilly Melt and a Bloody Mary Burger. The former contains pickle spears, melted cheddar, cream cheese and fried onions served on a toasted pretzel bun and the latter features a seasoned burger patty, bloody mary aioli, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato on a toasted bun, served alongside a skewer of pickles and sliced salami. Additionally, the stand will offer two for $1 Dill Pickles — a throwback to the brand’s start in 2008 as a wooden pickle cart located in Boston Common selling two spears for the same price.

Grillo’s Pickles will also be available in select sandwiches at the King’s Hawaiian concession stand located in the right field concourse. In early 2021 Grillo’s sold to the legacy bakery company, stating King’s strong, existing relationships would help the fermented food company expand. Over the past few months, the brand has also partnered with other CPG brands, creating a pickle hummus with Ithaca Hummus and a pickle-flavored chip with Utz.

Through the duration of the baseball season, Red Sox and Grillo’s fans can take a selfie sporting the limited-edition Grillo’s-themed hats and jerseys in front of the Grillo’s Pickle Stand and tag @grillospickles for a chance to win a free pickle jar coupon.

Nudge Loads the Bases of loanDepot Park With Its Coffee Snacks

Hit, run, score! Miami-based coffee confection maker Nudge has scored a partnership with the Miami Marlins, marking the brand’s first major collaboration.

Through the collaboration, nudge will launch its coffee snacks throughout loanDepot Park, home of the Marlins.

“We are thrilled to partner with an incredible organization like the Miami Marlins and bring our innovative coffee snacks brand, nudge, to its fans,” said Tom Ferguson, CEO of The Whole Company, the parent company of nudge.

“With our company’s roots based right here in Miami, it was critical for us to form our first major partnership with a progressive organization that has a commitment to excellence–both winning on the field and in their community […] We cannot wait to make them available to all Marlins fans through loanDepot Park.”

Nudge coffee snacks will be available at various locations throughout the park, including the PNC Club and El Mercado, a grab-and-go location on the main concourse.