NotCo is a global tech-food startup that utilizes a revolutionary AI named “Giuseppe,” which analyzes 300,000 plants in its database to replicate the taste, texture, and viscosity of anything in the world at a molecular level.

While the plant-based market is oversaturated, NotCo's proposition is unique because it uses AI to solve food industry challenges. However, the brand’s awareness was low and dependent on its performance per market. We had three main objectives. First, raise awareness of Giuseppe's capabilities. Second, position NotCo as the B2B partner that re-imagines and solves any culinary challenge from the food & restaurant industry. Third, break through a very crowded plant-based alternative category.

Our brief was clear: make Giuseppe famous by getting it to solve a culinary challenge it has never done before.

NotCo tested its AI chef, Giuseppe, to its limits by doing something it has never done before: create an endangered animal dish. By analyzing 260 quintillion formulas and 300,000 plants, Giuseppe found a recipe that replicated the taste and texture of real turtle meat at a molecular level with just plants. Instead of profiting from NotTurtle's recipe, NotCo embraced its mission as a start up in the food tech industry and open-sourced the recipe with classes. Restaurants, chefs, and businesses in the food industry were all welcomed to sign up, learn how to prepare NotTurtle, and provide a sustainable alternative to communities that eat turtle meat as part of their culture (from Peru to China) while also saving declining turtle populations. By showcasing the capabilities of NotCo's AI chef, the work showed the culinary solutions NotCo's tech can achieve for today's unsustainable food industry.

NotCo's AI Giuseppe can replicate animal product taste and texture using plants. To tackle the lack of data on Green Sea Turtle meat, NotCo collaborated with Upwell Turtles and chef Diego Oka. The team gathered data on the taste of the meat in the Cayman Islands, where it's a traditional dish. And utilizing these findings, we fed Giuseppe data on taste, texture and viscosity. From a database of 300,000 plants and analyzing 260 quintillion possible combinations, we found the one recipe. What would normally take a human 13.2 billion years to figure out, Giuseppe did it in 4 days. To see if it was identical, we had locals from Piura, Peru taste it for themselves. The result: identical to Turtle Soup. The complex recipe was then open-sourced as part of chef masterclass that can be replicated in any kitchen around the globe.

Because Giuseppe can't taste or cook, NotCo partnered with globally-acclaimed chef Diego Oka to bring culinary knowledge and help make Not Turtle.

Together, NotCo and Diego went on a journey to the Cayman Islands; with their findings, they went to NotCo headquarters to work with Giuseppe to analyze over 300,000 plants and 260 quintillion possible combinations, narrowing it down to one recipe that replicated the texture, taste, and molecular structure of turtle meat; and finally, they went to Peru and tested NotTurtle with locals who grew up with the traditional taste—which they thought was identical to the original.

The entire journey was documented and crafted into content. We launched infographics, teasers, and trailers globally on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. We open-sourced the recipe to local chefs and restaurants with a unique experience: NotTurtle cooking classes.

Every execution created awareness about the turtle issue and the prowess of Giuseppe.

Because NotTurtle is a product created for the purposes of changing local behavior, we decided to open-source the recipe for anyone to make. The brand provided a plant-based alternative to communities where traditional Turtle Soup was consumed most, achieving a 100% adoption rate: locals who ate it couldn’t tell the difference.

Global media coverage saw the potential and pathway forward for NotCo.

1.3 Billion Impressions.

Over 190 publications.

5 countries.

2 continents.

95% positive sentiment.

“A culinary innovation with AI for the preservation of sea turtles” WIRED

“Imagine what else we can do with this technology” FORBES.

"A more sustainable and ethical future." CNN

NatGeo is picking up the story and journey to launch a 30-minute feature documentary.

Received the stamp of approval from turtle conservation group UpWell Turtles.

Praised by many of the culinary world's most accomplished chefs, including Gaston Acurio.

NotCo’s most engaged campaign in history.