In March 2022, NFT and crypto investor Andy Nguyen purchased Bored Ape #6184 along with three Mutant Apes and soon decided to establish a Bored Ape-themed restaurant named Bored & Hungry. The restaurant opened its doors on April 9, and by the end of its first day, it had served 1,500 burgers and had lines stretching around the block.
Two years later, Bored & Hungry has closed.
Last week, Nguyen announced on Instagram that the restaurant’s original location in Long Beach, California, was closing. He shared that they had sold the concept to a franchising company from Asia known as HUNGRY Dao.
From his post:
“Happy 2 year anniversary @JustBorednHungry!Today we say goodbye to the original Bored & Hungry location in Long Beach, CA. We also want to congratulate our partner’s from Asia, Hungry Dao – a branding and franchising company who has acquired the brand from us. It’s been an insane 2 years, that was originally supposed to just be a 3 month pop up experiment.”
While Bored & Hungry was perhaps the most high-profile effort to bring the world of Web3 to food, it was far from alone. Since the NFT trend burst into public consciousness in 2021, numerous early-adopting restaurant operators, crypto-curious chefs, and FOMO-driven corporations have launched initiatives to connect their food businesses with Web3 elements. Nowadays, most of these ventures—like Bored & Hungry’s U.S. location—have either shut down or scaled back.
A few examples:
Starbucks recently announced that it’s shutting down its Web3 loyalty program, Odyssey. According to an FAQ about the program’s transition, Starbucks said the community would close the Odyssey beta on March 31, 2024, and users had until March 25, 2024, to complete any remaining Journeys. The lead for Odyssey, Steve Kaczynski, was let go as part of the move.
In March 2022, celebrity chefs Tom Colicchio and Spike Mendelsohn launched the CHFTY Pizza NFT project, promising holders access to virtual and in-person events, classes, kitchen accessories, and more. Today, the CHFTY website is inactive, and the project’s Discord channel has been quiet for the past year.
Even some housewares brands dipped their toes into this trend, though their efforts were minor and did not gain traction. Old-school home appliance brand Crockpot released an NFT commemorating its 50th anniversary. The NFT, still available on Opensea, has not received any offers.
Web3 initiatives like Dinner Dao and Burger Dao have largely been abandoned. At the same time, FriesDAO, a group that raised $5 million via an NFT offering, suffered a lethal blow when hackers made away with most of the group’s cash.
Yet, not all Web3 food ventures have failed. The coffee subscription site Bored Breakfast Club continues to operate. Flyfish, a high-profile NFT membership dining club, is set to open this summer, albeit offering a traditional non-NFT membership option. Additionally, Blackbird, the NFT loyalty program started by Eater and Resy founder Ben Leventhal, recently launched a breakfast club and sold out within hours.
So, with the dust of the first Web3 wave now settled, where does that leave us? Was the enthusiasm for food & Web3 more hype than substance? Or is the persistence of a hearty few continuing to march forward a sign of long-term viability for this space?
At this point, it’s too early to tell. Those who realized early on that Web3 and blockchain were a means to an end to enhance consumer-side benefits may have staying power. The same goes for those who realized they can’t require significant behavior change on the part of consumers regarding onboarding. Blackbird is a good example of both here. Others, like Flyfish, have demonstrated that they can make the necessary pivots to survive.
But big brands like Starbucks? They may take a while to come back. The Seattle-based coffee company arguably still has the leading loyalty program in the food business, and the fact company management decided they didn’t need to push any further into Web3 is a pretty good indication of whether they believe it’s required to unlock significant consumer value. Clearly, at this point, they don’t.
Some, however, like Wow Bao, realize this is a long-term waiting game. As company CEO Geoff Alexander told me this week, describing his company’s entry into the Metaverse, “Anything that you do new and technology takes time for adoption.”
He’s right that things take time. And if he’s right about the Metaverse, companies like his that stick it out for the long haul might benefit most.
At this point, though, nothing is a sure thing when it comes to Web3 and food.
