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Think of it as a concert ticket or access to a life another place outside of home and work creating the
changing experience perhaps. The possibilities are second wave coffee community we know of today.
many. Let’s take a look at an idea Dane Wesolko Starbucks is branching out into the world of
discusses in his blog, Can a coffee shop use NFT NFTs, and creating a digital community emanating
utility to expand into the metaverse? The coffee from coffee and expanding to other experiences like
drinker purchases an NFT to access the metaverse art, music, books etc. using technology committed
which takes him to the origin in a virtual world — to to sustainability.
experience the journey of bean to cup. NFT has gained popularity because of its poten-
Over here, the consumer can interact with dif- tial to reward loyal customers, while offering unique
ferent stakeholders in the industry e.g.the farmer). experiences, building a distinctive community and
He can learn about the coffee value chain, and be a different kind of customer engagement. The idea
informed of different issues in the industry. Inter- is the same, create a number of NFT collections,
actions like ordering a “virtual” cup of coffee or a which upon ownership can grant access to unique
bag of beans to get it delivered to your doorstep are perks and privileges.
also possible. Fun fact: Did you know that you can A Culture of Coffee In 2013, Metasebia Yo-
buy virtual land on the metaverse and have it look seph, Ethiopian-American author, wrote A Culture
like a coffee farm, a cafe or roastery? of Coffee to educate readers about the complex his-
The following are some cases of the intersection tory behind the global coffee culture. Nearly a decade
between NFT and coffee: later, she is rewriting her book on the blockchain
Exclusive Coffee Membership Let’s start with and aiming to create an entire ecosystem of experi-
a utility that I think will not only be ubiquitous but ence involving her book and the coffee culture.
popular amongst roasteries and cafes — coffee sub- The plans include a crowdfunding campaign,
scription programs sold as NFTs. The Bored Breakfast gifting NFT tokens to early supporters which in turn
Club is doing exactly this and will ship two bags of will give access to a virtual viewing gallery, an in-
coffee to each token holder with the possibility to teractive book, and special events all planned for the
produce extra bags of coffee thanks to something 10 year anniversary launch of her book. “Using these
called The Community Coffee Wallet. new tools, we can transmit the updated book, digitize
This wallet is funded by royalties from NFT sales my research, and archive cultural artifacts to the
on the secondary market, and a percentage of profits ‘immutable record’. The project presents an oppor-
from coffee and merchandise sales. Once the required tunity to make coffee’s origin story accessible, with
funding threshold has been accomplished, new traceable provenance baked in,” Metasebia said in
blends are shipped to the NFT holders. What gets her blog.
better is that they have collaborated with Yes Plz And this is where I’ll be segueing to introduce
Coffee to roast the blends. Other perks include access you to Fantine, and the two founders I have had the
to an online community, digital content portfolio, pleasure to connect with recently and explore their
live events, and discounts on even more coffee. new NFT project.
NFT Viewing Gallery in a Coffee House We
saw NFTs used as a tool to aid in a subscription pro- The Future of Coffee Is Now
gram above. In Dubai, however, a roastery cum cafe
The idea is the same, has opened the first interactive NFT gallery coffee What happens when the future availability of cof-
house to be utilized as an advertising stream. Roast- fee is threatened? It should not come as a surprise when
create a number of NFT ers Specialty Coffee House have collaborated with I say that the current generation of farmers are under-
WeWay to incorporate blockchain within the cafe paid. In addition, the cost of production has increased
collections, which upon infrastructure opening their doors to a new type of steeply since the pandemic. When their very livelihood
customer: NFT creators, advertisers and enthusiasts. is threatened, why will they then continue to be in the
ownership can grant The Digital Third Place Third place was first same line of business? The next generation are now
access to unique perks termed by Ray Oldenburg in his influential book, The being encouraged to pursue education and career out-
side of the coffee industry as they do not consider it to
Great Good Place. He describes the third place as
and privileges. “the heart of a community’s social vitality”. It was be a stable source of income. They see the effort and
hard work being put in only to sell their crops at a loss.
this concept that made Starbucks into what it is today

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