LONDON – 5 February, 2024 – WNWN Food Labs, the first to bring cocoa-free chocolate to market, today announced it has won the British leg of the competition Culinary Action hosted by the Basque Culinary Center, making it a finalist in the international entrepreneurship program for gastronomy and food-tech companies. 

In addition to London, Culinary Action! On the Road has held competitions in Tokyo, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, New York, and Tel-Aviv in collaboration with local partners. Winners in each market receive a month’s residency in the BCC startup incubator and state-of-the-art digital gastronomy lab LABe, access to BCC’s mentors and leaders, and other benefits, and go on to compete for a top prize of additional lab research hours.

“We’re incredibly proud to have captured this award on our home turf and to represent the UK internationally in the next stage of Culinary Action,” said WNWN CEO Ahrum Pak. “BCC is on the leading edge of food and gastronomy research, so this opportunity to tap their resources and their network will open new doors for WNWN throughout the world.”

Since 2014, Culinary Action!, the Basque Culinary Center’s entrepreneurship program, has attracted entrepreneurs, students, companies, investors and society to create a socioeconomic impact in the gastronomy sector. BCC promotes startups and innovative projects in the fields of food tech, research technology, and agricultural technology. It has supported and accelerated 75 startups from a pool of 400 startups per year, held seven editions of the International Entrepreneurs Forum, seven food-tech accelerator programs, a new digital accelerator program, a hackathon with 100 BCC graduates in gastronomy and entrepreneurship, awarded six startup prizes, almost two dozen live workshops around the world, and 10 international workshops on Instagram. 

WNWN’s award-winning cocoa-free choc is now available in wholesale packs for worldwide bakeries, restaurant/foodservice, confectionery groups, and CPG/FMCG companies. 

Cocoa crops are highly vulnerable to climate change, including rising temperatures and reduced rainfall, which has led experts to predict chocolate shortages and supply chain issues in the coming years even as cocoa prices are already up a staggering 66% in the UK and 46% in the U.S. At the same time, cocoa suppliers and chocolate purveyors are increasingly being challenged on environmental damage such as deforestation and human rights harm. 

About WNWN

WNWN, a UK food tech startup addressing critical problems in food supply chains, creates a win-win situation for consumers, workers, producers, and the planet. The London-based food tech company employs a proprietary fermentation process to transform widely available plant-based ingredients like cereals and legumes to create cocoa-free choc that tastes, melts, snaps and bakes just like conventional chocolate. 

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