This January, Danone-owned brand Alpro launched a new non-dairy range to supermarket shelves in the UK, claiming to be the brand’s most convincing offering yet to cow’s milk yet, under the name of Not M*lk. A plant-based (not) beef has arisen, however, as that name was already taken by the Chilean food tech pioneer NotCo’s plant-based alternative NotMilk.
In response to this, NotCo has humorously suggested 100 original names for plant-based milk brands to use. Kiko Borger, Global Creative Director at NotCo, posted on social media: “What do you do when one of the biggest players of the food industry uses your name on their plant based milk brand?
We decided to give a little creative help. And you can do it too: https://notco.com/us/100names,” with the link allowing members of the public to get involved and suggest their own alternative names for the brand, to join the list of suggestions including Magic Milk, Funky Milk, and Almost Milk.
Founded in 2015, NotCo achieved its goal of becoming a unicorn by raising $235m from investors such as Lewis Hamilton and Roger Federer in 2021, with its NotMilk products available across Latin and North America. The food tech is currently working on its long-awaited NotChicken launch.
The naming quarrel is similar to another famous plant-based beef in the alt milk industry, as last year saw oat milk giant Oatly sue small UK producer Glebe Farm for an alleged trademark infringement. The judge eventually threw out all of the charges and ruled that there were no trademark violations. It remains to be seen if NotCo will pursue such a legal challenge against Alpro.
