Starbucks: The Next Big Corporation Entering Web3

Earlier this month I had a chance to speak with Holger Mannweiler about his web3 brewing business. The concept was simple: hold our token to receive our products. With so many people still crying foul about NFTs, the simple concept at Metabrewery was clear; and a far cry from the criticisms of rug pulls and Ponzi schemes that so many people from web2 are eager to inject into the public discourse. Confidence in the MetaBrewery project came down to one core factor - they developed a product before the NFT. Fortunately, the team at MetaBrewery is not the only company exploring the web3 frontier. 

Back in Spring 2022, Starbucks announced that they would be implementing their own NFT that would be attached to the Starbucks brand and their products. While details were scarce, there are a lot of reasons to look forward to this new aspect of web3 integration from major corporations. 

Corporate Utility

One of the most promising aspects of an NFT from Starbucks is its ability to include utilities which small NFT teams might not be able to execute well. While details about the NFT won’t be announced until September 13th, we can still theorize what a large corporation is capable of in Web3:

• Voting on Coffee Beans - Allow token holders to vote on coffee beans grown from different farms around the world that Starbucks has business connections with so that they can be shipped to a holder’s address. 

• Digital Coffee house with Special Guests - Metaverse applications that allow holders to enjoy their coffee while watching a performance or taking part in a live Q&A with unique guests.

• In-Store Rewards - Perks that can be redeemed in any Starbucks location around the world such as discounts, special merchandise, and more. 

Less Risk of a Rug Pull

A crucial aspect of an NFT coming from such a high-caliber business is that they are going to be less likely to pull the rug from underneath token holders. Starbucks is one of the most well-known businesses around the world and provides coffee products with a touch of social status.

For Starbucks, reputation plays a big role in its brand recognition as a high-end cafe. It will be important for them to implement their NFTs correctly because their reputation will be damaged if it turns into a quick cash grab; especially among the majority of the population that believes NFTs are worthless. 

Mass Adoption of Web3

Unlike most celebrity NFTs, which go the way of a quick cash grab, seeing large corporations move into the web3 space is a sign that mass adoption is real and happening as we speak. 

Whether people like it or not, corporations have the power to make monumental impacts on the public use of blockchain technology by incorporating it into the products that their customers frequently purchase. 

The partnership between Coinbase and Blackrock is one of the biggest examples of this shift in blockchain integration, but seeing companies like Starbucks making this push towards Web3 shows just how interested some of the biggest players in our global economy are in cryptocurrency and NFTs.