How Has NotCo’s AI Platform Created Cocoa-Free Chocolate?

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It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate.
NotCo’s AI, Giuseppe, reinvents chocolate with a cocoa-free bar, addressing climate challenges in cocoa farming while delivering sustainable, tasty treats

Who would’ve thought that AI could help re-invent chocolate?

NotCo’s patented AI tool, Giuseppe, has helped the company invent a cocoa-free chocolate bar.

The need for a cocoa-free bar is due to the havoc that climate change is having on cocoa production – especially in Ghana and the Ivory Coast which produce 60% of the world’s cocoa.

ShakeShack's chocolate custard ice cream in collaboration with NotCo.

For four years in a row these countries have experienced a poor harvest, resulting in a cost rise of 400% over the past year.

About NotCo

The aim of NotCo is to revolutionise the food industry, providing plant based options rather than meat and dairy which produce a lot of CO₂.

The main 'man' behind the company is the AI, known as Giuseppe, creating a cost-effective and ethical alternative to foods.

Fernando Machado, the Global Chief Marketing Officer for the NotCompany (NotCo) comments: “We created this AI platform, which we named Giuseppe after the painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo from the mid-1500s who used to do portraits with fruits and vegetables.

Fernando Machado has been keen to join the NotCo team for years.

“It's basically creating art with plants.”

Giuseppe is able to understand the molecular structure of ingredients to create foods that mimic the taste, smell, texture and colour of animal products.

When the AI platform was first created it added dill into ‘milk’ formula not knowing it would make it green – after this learning curve it now knows how certain plants will alter colours.

The whole point of NotCo is to create more sustainable food options. 

Producing one jar of NotMayo uses 97% less water and generates 26% less CO2 than a traditional product. 

The company is committed to reducing emissions, water consumption and preventing deforestation associated with animal production

NotCo’s new bar

Since 2015 when the company was founded, NotCo has developed a cocoa-free chocolate bar that replicates the flavour, texture and melting profile of traditional chocolate – whilst reducing the environmental impact.

By using Giuseppe, the team were able to optimise a blend of upcycled ingredients and sustainable crops, resulting in a product that represents a real cocoa flavour.

Many cocoa processing plants are operating at reduced capacity due to shortages, making NotCo’s innovation a viable solution to long-term stability that can transform ingredient sourcing practices in the confectionery industry.

Credit: NotCo.

This creates a reducing dependence on a resource-intensive commodity and stabilising supply chains. 

Traditional cacao cultivation drives significant illegal deforestation, yet only the seeds are harvested – NotCo are replacing cocoa with upcycled ingredients such as endemic Chilean cereals, fermented seeds, and sustainable crops.

NotCo aligns with circular economy principles, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and minimising food waste to significantly reduce deforestation and water consumption associated with traditional cocoa farming.

High-quality flavor replication without resource-intensive inputs, enables NotCo’s cocoa-free chocolate to deliver the indulgent taste and texture consumers expect. 

The formulation’s flexibility, combined with the efficiency of Giuseppe’s AI-driven approach, opens doors to reimagining other indulgent treats like ice creams, snack bars and confectionery powders

Thanks to all of this, the company has successfully developed a chocolate that mimics a 50% cocoa profile.

Fernando Machado explains: “The way we do things today, and the reason why I'm saying this today, is that we take an animal-derived product and do a whole analysis on that product—chromatography, physical properties, all sorts of things—to create almost like a DNA or snapshot of what the product is. 

Fernando Machado, the Global Chief Marketing Officer for NotCo.

“We feed that into Giuseppe, and then Giuseppe proposes four or five recipes that could match that target. Then, the chefs take those recipes, prepare the product, try the product, and give feedback to Giuseppe.”

Eco-conscious chocolate

Another company that is set on producing sustainable chocolate is Tony’s Chocolonely.

Founded in 2005 by a group of journalists, the company aims to end exploitation in the cocoa industry, which is filled with child labour and modern slavery.

Tony’s has 100% traceable cocoa beans and paya higher, more ethical prices to the cocoa farmers to avoid exploitation.

The fair price isn't the only benefit to the farmers as the company is invested in long-term partnerships and works directly with farmers to improve sustainability. 

The unevenly-sized pieces of Tony's Chocolonely chocolate bars symbolise the unequal distribution of wealth in the chocolate industry.

With the help of NotCo’s innovation of cocoa free chocolate it could help companies like Tony’s to further sustainability initiatives.

If this were to happen then both companies would have to be conscious that cocoa farmers weren’t under-exploited and out of work.

For these collaborations to work, a happy medium needs to be met, one that benefits the planet, workers and consumers ethically.


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