Teaming up
Recently valued at $1.5 billion, NotCo sells its own “Not” products (Not Mayo, Not Milk, Not Chicken, Not Meat) and also licenses its technology to partners, including Kraft Heinz, which is developing plant-based foods co-branded with NotCo. Muchnick characterizes the partner deals as a kind of “Intel inside” arrangement, where NotCo essentially powers the product. The company also has deals to supply restaurants with Not products—partners include Starbucks in Mexico and Dunkin’ and Burger King in parts of Latin America.
Despite its growth, Muchnick told Ad Age he felt NotCo’s marketing has at times felt too conventional. He has long admired Machado (they initially met online through LinkedIn comments—“like a Tinder date, but for business,” he joked) and is looking for Machado to break open the company’s messaging. The goal is to communicate the elevated quality of NotCo products, not just compared with other plant-based food but with all food.
“I think what plant-based has done in terms of marketing is very poor,” Muchnick said. “We had two years during COVID when people were redefining the way they interact with food and see sustainability. That’s changed. The focus is more confusing now. We need someone to penetrate the market with the right messaging, the right marketing, the right consumer thinking, the right categories of products, and stop being only plant-based-first.”
The co-branded products are particularly promising. In late 2022, NotCo and Kraft Heinz launched a pilot program for Not Kraft Singles in a limited number of stores in a single U.S. state—it became the top-selling product in the vegan cheese category in four months, with no promotion, Muchnick said.
from Digital Marketing Education https://ift.tt/CL85Isv
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