The Cocoa Conundrum

In the shadow of cocoa’s looming crisis – dwindling yields, exploitative labour, and climatic precarity – one British start-up is betting that the future of chocolate may not involve cocoa at all. Win-Win, founded in 2020, claims to be the UK’s only producer of cocoa-free chocolate. Its secret? Fermentation, not beans.

“Win-Win was born out of urgency,” says Ahrum Pak, the company’s founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “We saw a looming crisis in the chocolate supply chain driven by climate volatility and persistent labour challenges, and realised there was no mass-market scalable alternative.”

Few would attempt to replicate chocolate – a product venerated not just for its taste but its cultural and economic gravity. Yet Pak was undeterred. “Creating a new food product from scratch is one of the biggest challenges in food, especially when you’re trying to replicate something as beloved and complex as chocolate.” The difficulty is not just technical but sensory. “Cocoa’s deep flavour comes from its fermentation and roasting process,” she explains. Recreating that depth with “entirely different, sustainable ingredients… was, and still remains, no small task.”

But Pak insists the challenge is worth it. “That was the beginning of it all. A huge challenge, but one that felt and still feels worth tackling.” The start-up’s approach sits at the intersection of two booming investment themes: sustainable foodtech and climate adaptation. Its backers include Christophe Maire, founder of Berlin’s FoodLabs and Atlantic Labs. “Since day one, Christopher and his team believed in our vision to transform the cocoa industry with a completely new product and fermentation process,” says Pak. Their early backing was pivotal, not just financially but emotionally. “Their support has been incredible, both for Win-Win and for me personally, through all the highs and lows of start-up life.”

The lows, inevitably, have been plentiful. “Failure is an inevitable and essential part of the process,” Pak admits, especially “when you’re building something that’s never existed before.” Even the act of invention – the thousands of R&D iterations, the quest for “the flavour, texture and functionality just right” – was grueling. But for Pak, such friction is the nature of innovation. “Every setback is a chance to learn, adapt, and grow… It builds not just the resilience of the business, but the grit and creativity of the whole team.”

Pak is also uncommonly open about her reliance on external guidance. “I’m incredibly fortunate to have a supportive board and experienced advisors that I can turn to,” she says. Their experience lends “perspective” during difficult moments, offering an antidote to entrepreneurial isolation.

And what advice does she offer other founders hoping to scale? Unsurprisingly, it’s people, not products, that she highlights. “The team will make or break your company, especially when you’re trying to scale.” Missteps in hiring are, in her view, a silent killer. “Hiring too early or too senior can slow you down. Hiring too late can break momentum.” Instead, it is “the right people in the right roles” that will “unlock growth and make your life a lot easier and more focused.”

Whether Win-Win’s chocolate alternative can truly rival its cocoa-laden cousin remains to be seen. But in a world increasingly obsessed with sustainable production and supply-chain resilience, even the idea of a fermentation-based chocolate could prove irresistible.