The food and beverage industry is actively working on NFTs, but are you late to the party?

On June 1, 2023, Nestlé officially announced its entry into the world of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Through his own brand Maggi, launching gamified versions of his three products – Maggi Noodles, Maggi Masala Ae Magic and Hot & Sour Sauce – on the Metaverse, with people wearing virtual avatars earning the “Golden Maggie NFT” can compete for ”.

The fast-moving consumer goods giant has partnered with OneRare, a Delhi-based blockchain startup that specializes in creating NFTs for the food and beverage (F&B) industry through collaborations with restaurants, celebrity chefs and food brands. Nestlé hopes to cut into his Web 3.0 through NFTs to build loyalty, traction and a strong community of young consumers. As part of his pre-launch campaign in March, the company ran a contest on the Metaverse, where he amassed over 100,000 impressions on the OneRare website.

“Web 3.0 will become increasingly important as a natural extension of F&B brand marketing and outreach strategies,” says OneRare co-founder Supreet Raju. “Within the next eight to 10 years, F&B brands will launch their own NFTs to reach their target consumers.”

Raju’s company now bolsters the launch of chef and entrepreneur Zorawar Kalla’s Farj Cafe and releases NFT via a gamified version. People will be able to redeem this NFT in the digital cuisine and offline worlds for dining discounts, exclusive access to restaurant kitchens, or exclusive diner experiences including food tastings that are in the testing phase.

Onerair, which has received $2 million in seed funding from angel investors and investment funds in 2021, now owns brands such as Cornitos, Papa John’s, Urban Platter and Massive Restaurants, as well as Reynold Poernomo, Jamie It serves the needs of chefs such as Van Heidi, Anthony Serpon and Vicky Ratnani. .

Digital collectible card games have been around since the 1990s and aren’t a new trend, but NFT gamification has been on the rise over the last two years, especially in the fields of entertainment, art and fashion, giving gamers the opportunity to play. We offer opportunities to earn. . Now, the F&B industry is also making inroads into this space.

“It’s time to look beyond Instagram and other forms of social media,” says Carla, founder and managing director of Massive Restaurants.

NFTs not only help build a loyalty base among consumers and target younger audiences, they also help the food and beverage industry create online events that can be leveraged in the offline world. Additionally, NFTs can be monetized.

According to a Polaris Market Research report published in April 2023, the global F&B NFT market is currently valued at $538.58 million, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.5 percent, expected to grow by 2032. It is expected to generate revenue of $2,134.04 million by 2020. .

Over the past two years, brands such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell and Coca-Cola have launched NFTs. Taco Bell made news when it debuted in 2021, selling all its tokens uniformly in 30 minutes on its NFT aggregator platform, Rarible. Taco Bell reportedly sold each NFT for less than $2, but continues to make a profit from token sales. A fee is charged each time an NFT changes ownership. We also distributed rewards in the form of gift cards worth $500 each to the original owners of the NFTs.

Alcohol brands such as Glenfiddich, Hennessy and Bacardi also have NFTs that offer their customers special benefits such as private distillery tours, wine tasting events and discounts.

Things are clearly moving, but is the F&B sector lagging behind the NFT party?

The initial rush in the NFT market has slowed significantly from the final quarter of 2022 due to the slowdown in the cryptocurrency market and the global economy, according to reports. Global sales of NFTs fell from over $4.62 billion in January 2022 to $1.21 billion in April 2022, according to NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam.

Two months ago, less than a year after entering NFTs, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said the company would “focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses, so for the time being digital collectibles (NFTs) ) will be reduced.”

There are also skeptical voices in India. Chef and entrepreneur Tarun Sibal, who runs Titlie, one of Goa’s most successful restaurants, said, “NFTs are new territory and I am not sure what the outcome will be for my industry. I don’t know.” Until he’s sure, he says he’ll stick to building a new brand the way he knows it: “table to table, drink to drink, plate to plate, and interaction after interaction.” . Just two weeks ago, he launched a bar, KHI KHI, in Delhi and plans to open a restaurant in Bangalore by the end of the year.

Nestlé isn’t worried. The company says its debut into Web 3.0 gaming and blockchain technology is a strategic move. “Nestlé Web 3.0 is a series for us, just as some series on OTT platforms have seasons,” said Rajat Jain, head of food business at Nestlé India. “In the first season, we bring consumers together. The second is to enhance the experience. He added that even the packaging of some products will change and include details such as NFTs.

Chef Salanche Goira agrees. “Brands should continue to invest for the long term, thinking of NFTs as a way to build customer loyalty and using them as a marketing instrument. Monetization will follow.” He added that he would be able to make a profit of $5,000 to $6,000. His NFT is planned to coincide with the launch of 100 Goira Butter Chicken stores across India by the end of 2023 (currently there are 60).

But the big question is, will patrons also soak up the NFT platter?