Chilean start-up The Live Green Co. has created an algorithm to help multinational food companies “clean up their act” from a nutritional perspective. The AI-powered recommendation engine, Charaka, identifies animal, synthetic and processed food additives in a multinational’s products and accordingly suggests plant-based ingredient alternatives. 

The introduction of this solution is considered timely, as industry giants including PepsiCo, Tyson Food and Nestlé have recently invested heavily into repositioning their brands with healthier and more sustainable reformulations.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, company founder Priyanka Srinivas talks about the company’s ambition to “re-imagine everything” using its tech solution – from burger and soup mixes to milk, ice-creams and plant-based meats.

“Charaka’s database is currently built up of 15,000 plants and plant parts – approximately half a million data points – and provides alternatives to more than 5,000 food additives approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA),” she details.

“We input the ingredient formulations of multiple existing products into Charaka. Charaka then identifies the additives, analyzes more than 35 data points – including but not limited to organoleptic, functional, nutritional and physicochemical properties – and recommends 100 percent natural plant alternatives.”

The Live Green Co. is currently in the process of finalizing some licensing deals with multiple large retailers and food manufacturers across Latin America, particularly Mexico. It is in preliminary conversations with players in the US and plans to grow “exponentially” beyond Chile as a global market leader in the next five years, Srivinas highlights. 

Compensating for a dearth in modern science
A paradigm shift across industry is prompting reformulations that are healthier and more sustainable, not just tastier.

Even some offerings within the plant-based category – scoring highly against nutrition and eco-friendly benchmarks – have come under scrutiny for high levels of fat, salt and sugar.

Among recent industry developments, Nestlé doubled down on its reformulation efforts following UK media reports that 60 percent of the Swiss food giant’s F&B portfolio does not meet a “recognized definition of health.” 

Meanwhile, the European Food Safety Authority’s new safety assessment for the synthetic food whitening agent titanium dioxide (E171) is reinforcing industry’s focus on natural plant-based colors.

“Our team is driven by the sorry state of major food markets today,” remarks Srinivas. “When my sister adopted a baby, we struggled to identify what we could feed her since almost every food product, including baby food, contained additives that we couldn’t even pronounce.”

“Nature offers 450,000 plants and ten million compounds to analyze and use, but modern science has not explored even 1 percent of this,” she continues. “Currently, even while Charaka is fully functional and can help formulate or clean any food product, there is still a lot to do in terms of expanding the database and making the algorithms even smarter.”

Tenfold revenue growth
Sigma Alimentos, a US$6 billion food manufacturer with operations in 18 countries, has successfully piloted Charaka and made a minority investment in US.

“In addition to the pilot with Sigma Alimentos, we have launched some products under our own brand to validate Charaka,” comments Srinivas. “Since the pandemic, we have grown tenfold in terms of revenue.”

“We’ve enjoyed great success with our burger and pancake mixes, which are available in more than 250 points of sale in Chile, including Jumbo and Walmart.”

Srinivas maintains that The Live Green Co.’s objective is not to be a fast-moving consumer goods brand. “Rather, we are here to use our cutting-edge technology to change the way the world consumes and make healthy and sustainable eating available and affordable for everyone – and not just for a niche.”

Own-brand launches on horizon
Ultimately, the goal is to launch next-generation plant-based products under the Live Green Co.’s own brands “without spending millions of dollars and decades on R&D.”

The company recently launched its own plant-based ice cream, which replaces additives like stabilizers, emulsifiers and anti-freezing and anti-caking agents with natural ingredients like avocado, bananas, sunflower seeds, flax meal and sunflower oil.

“We launched our ice cream in January and it is receiving a great response,” says Srinivas. “It is now available in all major health food stores in Santiago and Chile’s most premium supermarket chain, Jumbo.”

“In addition, we recently completed the R&D of new products including plant-based milk and an imitation beef burger.”

Formulating recipes with AI
AI continues to prove its worth as a sophisticated R&D instrument, particularly wher formulators are making use of this technology to streamline supply chains and rapidly tailor recipes in line with evolving consumer expectations.

Among recent developments, Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing launched its Aroma Kiosk, a digital sensory tool designed to gather valuable consumer insights on flavors and products in real-time.

Last April, confectionery giant Mars Wrigley UK and Google Cloud developed the world’s first Maltesers AI Cake. The hybrid “cakie” concept includes both AI-generated cake and cookie elements.

In March, AI was hailed as the “future of the coffee industry” as Demetria, the first AI-powered software as a service (SaaS) start-up for the coffee supply chain, closed US$3 million in funding.