LONDON – 3 October, 2023 – WNWN Food Labs, the first to bring cocoa-free chocolate to market, announced today its choc will be on the menu for a series of dinners at Carousel hosted by Chefs Lara Espirito Santo and George McLeod of SEM, one of Lisbon’s most prominent restaurants and winner of multiple awards for its food and philosophy.

Sem (“without” in Portuguese) works directly with producers, without single-use plastic in its operation and without waste, creating a tasting menu from what is most seasonal and with focus on ferments and preserves to eliminate waste. The pop-up at Carousel tonight through 7 October marks the first time the Sem founders will showcase this ethos in London, with an eight-course tasting menu of in-season and locally produced ingredients. 

The dessert course, a “Not-Chocolate Marquise” features WNWN’s London-made dark choc, banana rum, and native woodruff. 

“George and Lara are industry pioneers who are changing the game of what culinary sustainability really means,” said Dr Johnny Drain, WNWN CTO. “As a startup that has set out to create an alternative to one of the world’s most popular yet most environmentally destructive ingredients—chocolate—this is precisely the kind of supplier relationship WNWN’s dreamt of.”

“Flavour and concept must have equal weight, or it ends up working against the cause,” said Espirito Santo. “We’re using WNWN choc not only because it’s the responsible choice, but because it’s versatile and delicious. The dish we’re using it in is an incredibly tasty Carousel classic, and we want to show it can continue to be so with a ‘chocolate’ that can be part of a progressive future.”

Espirito Santo and McLeod opened SEM in the summer of 2021. Growing up on opposite sides of the world, she Brazilian and he a Kiwi, they met in London at a Bonobo gig in the summer of 2018. They soon found out their common interests went beyond good music to environmental impact, climate action and how food was intrinsic to it all. This led them both to join SILO, where they worked in Doug McMaster’s team until the pandemic spread. The temporary escape to Portugal ended up becoming permanent, and the opportunity to open their own place came up. SEM menus balance what’s in the ground right now, what we saved from previous menus and thinking of what a future food system will look like.

For more information or to reserve visit https://carousel-london.com/whatson/sem/ 

WNWN 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. It is vegan, caffeine-free, gluten-free, palm oil-free, and lower in sugar than comparable products. According to an internal lifecycle analysis, WNWN’s dark chocolate alternative emits 90 percent less greenhouse gasses than conventional chocolate, and does not contribute to deforestation, habitat destruction, and unfair labour practices like the conventional chocolate supply chain. 

Cocoa prices are up a staggering 66% in the UK and 46% in the U.S., while cocoa suppliers and chocolate purveyors are increasingly being challenged on their environmental and human rights harm. In the EU, a ban on cocoa and chocolate linked to deforestation took effect in June, while in the U.S., a federal lawsuit is calling for a block on imports of cocoa harvested by child labour. Globally, Starbucks is under fire for repeated failure to address cocoa supply chain questions. Cocoa crops are also highly vulnerable to climate change, including rising temperatures and reduced rainfall, which has led experts to predict chocolate shortages in the coming years.

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LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wnwnfoodlabs 

Instagram: instagram.com/winwinchoc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winwinchoc 

Twitter: twitter.com/WNWNFoodLabs

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About WNWN Food Labs (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 uses fermentation to transform plant-based whole foods and unloved ingredients into delicious, sustainable foods. For more information visit www.wnwnfoodlabs.com.

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