A key strategic move has been agreed by Barry Callebaut, as it signs an agreement with NotCo AI (“NotCo”), a digital consumer goods platform, for developing advanced chocolate recipes, reports Neill Barston.
The deal comes as Swiss headquartered manufacturer has expanded its portfolio and scope in agreeing a supply deal with Planet A, which uses cocoa alternative ingredients including sunflower seeds for its confectionery and snacks ranges.
As Barry Callebaut explained, its latest AI partnership blends its significant chocolate expertise with NotCo’s cutting-edge AI capabilities, aiming to accelerate innovation and deliver faster, more tailored customer experiences.
By exploring new frontiers in taste, texture, and sustainability, the collaboration promises richer, more chocolatey solutions to meet evolving consumer expectations.
They deal is one which mirrors activity across the food and drink sector in which major firms are collaborating or incorporating AI into product development and marketing, and is a first for Barry Callebaut in the sector.
Together, the companies are exploring to build a new framework for chocolate innovation: one that is smarter, faster, more sustainable, and fully scalable to meet evolving customer and consumer needs.
Peter Feld, Barry Callebaut CEO said: ‘This agreement marks an exciting step forward for Barry Callebaut and for our customers. It reflects our commitment to creating best customer experience by boosting innovation and speed to market. By combining our deep chocolate expertise and global reach with NotCo’s advanced AI capabilities, we’re aiming to unlock speed for breakthrough recipe solutions – from health-forward formulations to functional ingredients and Nutri-Score-friendly options. With the pace of change across the industry and the cocoa market, our customers’ needs are evolving rapidly. This collaboration enables us to test how AI can enhance process efficiency and scale our innovation efforts to meet future demands and allows us to accelerate our ways of working to deliver the best possible customer experience.’
The project aims to explore the development of the next generation of chocolate, potentially setting a new standard for how food companies innovate. By testing AI-driven formulation processes, the collaboration seeks to shorten development cycles, improve hit rates, and digitally empower every scientist and chef to create with unprecedented speed and precision, delivering exceptional taste while advancing sustainability goals.
’Our high fidelity data corpus collected for the past 10 years has become the most fundamental value proposition for the next generation of CPG and ingredient companies of the future. By integrating Barry Callebaut’s unparalleled chocolate knowledge with our general purpose approach platform, we’re creating a personalized and unique innovation engine that will set a new standard for the entire industry, added Matias Muchnick, Co-Founder and CEO of NotCo AI.
