Here’s Why Jeff Bezos Invested $30 Million in Latin American Mayonnaise

• Jeff Bezos invests $30 million dollars in Chilean startup claiming to be the future eco-friendly Nestle.
• Artificial intelligence and food technology are growing in Latin America, especially in Chile, the first OECD country in South America.
• Latin American and U.S. business relations predicted to grow (along with the amount of Americans learning Spanish & Portuguese).

When you think about Chile, you might romantically envision the stunning snow-capped mountains of Patagonia or an impeccable glass of Chilean Carménère. When I think about Chile, I think about hot dogs. Completos to be exact, typically slathered in palta (Chilean for avocado), tomatoes, and mayonnaise. After living in Chile, it’s hard not to get hooked on this gourmet delight. However, environmentally-conscious Chileans just took their mayonnaise addiction to a WHOLE new level, and it has even caught the attention of big players like Jeff Bezos.

Jeff Bezos Invests $30 Million in Chilean Food Tech StartUp NotCo

Chilean food tech startup NotCo implements revolutionary artificial intelligence and machine learning to find the right combination of plant-based materials to replicate the exact taste of our favorite dairy classics – only without dairy.

That’s right – no eggs, lactose, or even soy. This young team of motivated scientists and researchers are serious about finding the most sustainable alternatives to the animal-based products all 7.1 billion of us (over)consume on a daily basis.

The startup has high ambitions for the future, and plans to give giant retailers like Nestle a run for their money. They are keen on commandeering the market share of an array of commodities including yogurt, cheese, and milk substitutes.

For the love of mayonnaise, this is a huge breakthrough!

As one of many expats who is infatuated with the country, NotCo is the best thing to come out of Chile since Netflix streamed Gringolandia, a popular web series that featured one Chilean immigrant’s struggle to (unsuccessfully) find completos in New York City. This is real culture, people. 

What Does Billionaire Jeff Bezos Have to Do with Chilean Completos?

Bezos, raised by his Cuban step-father, from which he derives his Latino apellido (last name), is now officially the “Wealthiest Man in the World.” His investment arm, Bezos Expeditions, decides where to invest this wealth, acting in pursuit of causes and markets that fuel his fire.

As we know, Mr. Bezos is no stranger to the growing market of food technology. We have seen Amazon try to gracefully disrupt the $700 billion grocery market with Amazon Fresh, the Whole Foods acquisition, and investments in military-grade food tech, to name a few.

Recently, Bezos has repeatedly tried to expand into Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, only to be met with an onslaught of cultural and political setbacks. Several other American companies, Walmart among them, have tried and failed, often because of a lack of linguistic knowledge and cultural comprehension.

Mayonnaise, however, is providing the economic foothold Bezos needs to break into these markets.

Demand for Spanish and Portuguese Grows as Business in Latin America Does Too

Here’s the deal – since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1990, Chile has developed at an unprecedented rate. From tourism to academia to mining to agrotech, Chile is the only OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) country in South America and continues to make the region proud with their outstanding research and development.

And who could forget about the completos?!

Pimsleur recognizes the growth of business relationships in Chile and Latin America as a whole and has helped countless professionals learn conversational Spanish and learn Brazilian Portuguese to improve their business relationships.

The best way to learn Latin American Spanish is with our battle-tested language-learning software. Use the code “mayo” to get a delicious discount or try a free Pimsleur lesson on us!