Chilean food technology company NotCo has sold its Brazilian operations to Ferrara, a food group with natural brands in Brazil and the United States. The transaction, announced through LinkedIn, comes less than three months after the company divested its Argentina and Uruguay business to Molinos Rio de la Plata. It marks another major step in NotCo's retreat from international food markets as the company shifts its focus toward artificial intelligence for the consumer goods industry.
Brazilian Sale and Local Impact
Ferrara acquires a business that NotCo built over six years in Brazil, where NotMilk became the second leading national player in plant-based beverages according to Chief Executive Officer Matias Muchnick. The company celebrated the milestone and said the new ownership would accelerate expansion through national and international distribution, local market knowledge and synergies. The sale does not include the continuation of the local team, as about 30 employees in Sao Paulo are expected to remain under contract only until the end of September.
The Brazilian division never reached profitability and faced financial pressure, although sources indicated it showed a recovery during the first half of the year. NotCo declined to comment before publishing its LinkedIn announcement. The move follows a pattern of divestments that has sharply reduced the company's international footprint.
Accelerating Withdrawal from Regional Markets
At the end of 2025 NotCo closed its New York office and left its United States and Canada operations in the hands of Kraft Heinz. In June 2026 the company sold Argentina and Uruguay, and around March it quietly shut down Mexico without a buyer due to poor results. These exits leave Chile as the only market where NotCo Foods still manages operations directly.
The workforce has also contracted significantly, from a peak of more than 300 people to fewer than 100 today. In late July the company dismissed around 20 employees in research and development, culinary, artificial intelligence and marketing across Chile and the United States. Sources said voluntary resignations have added to the reduction, and NotCo's Quilin operations center will be partly subleased.
The Last Direct Market Under Pressure
Chile now stands as the final food market under direct management, but its operations continue to post negative results. According to sources consulted by Diario Financiero, the local business has until the end of the year to demonstrate profitability. If it fails, the expectation is that it may be sold, possibly separated by product category because no buyer has shown interest in the full operation.
Pivot Toward NotCo AI
While its food business contracts, NotCo is concentrating resources on NotCo AI, a business to business platform that serves consumer goods clients such as PepsiCo, Mondelez, Ferrero and Kraft Heinz. The company presents this division as its future growth engine, moving away from the plant based products that made it famous. Those products were developed with an artificial intelligence chef named Giuseppe, which recreated animal derived flavors and textures using vegetal ingredients.
The contrast with NotCo's earlier trajectory is stark. In 2021 the company raised a funding round of 235 million US dollars, reached a valuation above 1.5 billion dollars, and became one of Chile's first unicorns with Jeff Bezos among its investors. The current contraction illustrates the risks for Latin American startups of expanding geographically before achieving profitability in their home markets.
NotCo's sale of its Brazilian operation to Ferrara completes a rapid retreat that has left Chile as the company's only directly managed food market. The future now centers on the artificial intelligence platform and its ability to generate growth with large global clients. Whether the remaining Chilean food business becomes profitable or is also divested will likely define the next stage of NotCo's transformation.