Illustration: Nadia Méndez/WIRED Middle East

In November last year, the boundaries of reality blurred as tech-savvy patrons immersed themselves in a digital realm that defied conventional dining experiences. It was a realm where taste met technology, where the thrill of the metaverse intertwined with the aroma of tantalizing burgers as Pickl, the UAE’s homegrown fast-food brand, became the first in the region to make an audacious leap into the metaverse and unveiled its digital-to-physical metaverse ordering platform at the Gitex Global 2022.

As visitors flocked to the event, within the virtual oasis, with a few clicks and swipes, they placed their orders, selecting from a menu that featured everything from classic cheeseburgers to daring creations like the fiery Nashville hot chicken and the revolutionary Impossible plant-based meat. The metaverse had opened its gates, beckoning all those who sought culinary adventure.

Foodtruck Wars, an NFT battle for foodies. Courtesy of OneRare

But this was no ordinary virtual escapade. Pickl had a surprise in store—a fusion of the digital and the physical, blending the metaverse with reality as patrons were greeted with a physical burger just within minutes of confirming their orders in the virtual realm. The metaverse had reached out and touched reality, leaving diners in awe of the harmonious convergence of technology and gastronomy, and Pickl had boldly stepped through, carving a path for others to follow.

Feeding a tech revolution

Sujeh Raja, Director and CEO of ICCA Dubai. Courtesy of ICCA Dubai

Like Pickl, the promising demand for metaverse encounters within the food and beverage industry was quickly seized and tapped on by OneRare, the world’s pioneering food metaverse which was founded based on co-founder Supreet Raju and her husband Gaurav Gupta’s love for food, hinging on the idea of using food as a language to explain the nuances of blockchain to first-time users.

The company, which started as a food NFT project, celebrating food from across the world, soon witnessed the potential of using these NFTs to bring the global F&B industry to Web3 by celebrating iconic recipes and FMCG ingredients in its gameplay. Built on the Polygon chain, OneRare allows users to celebrate food via NFTs as well as to engage in interactive experiences and in gameplay.

To be sure, the Middle East is pushing the envelope for innovation with the use of blockchain technology for real-life businesses. “We’re seeing early adopters in the blockchain space and an array of food businesses in the region exploring NFTs and virtual experiences.”

Mohammed Mahfoudh, Founder & CEO at Deca4. Courtesy of Deca4

Just two months into its expansion in the UAE, OneRare has worked with a spate of brands like Papa Johns, Nestle, The Bhukkad Cafe, China Bistro, Art of Dum and India Bistro, among others to introduced NFTs that gamify their signature recipes. Mohammed Mahfoudh, Founder & CEO at Deca4, a global advisory and consultancy company focusing on helping clients in the implementation of new technologies like blockchain, remarks that the promise of technology in areas like transparency, enhanced traceability, provenance, and supply chains in the food space is being pushed aggressively by startups as well as the existing incumbents in the industry.

Mahfoudh reveals that the company has seen good interest in the food tech startups from the cloud kitchen and delivery companies driven by the growth of online ordering and changing of consumers habits, mostly during and after Covid. The company sees a strong appetite from the blockchain community in investing in real-life applications for tokenizations, NFTs, and metaverse projects. “The food industry provides a strong and compelling case for such investments as the adoption curve is just starting,” he says.

Finding a foothold in the metaverse

Amidst the ceaseless deliberation surrounding the metaverse’s destiny—whether it will reign supreme in the future or fizzle out as a mere passing trend—one undeniable truth emerges: a multitude of food brands, both in the region and across the globe, are fervently exploring the realm of metaverses. These digital realms, meticulously crafted to mirror their physical counterparts, boast an array of captivating features, ranging from reserving coveted tables to seamlessly placing online orders. Raju affirms that a substantial portion of these groundbreaking endeavors across the region shall materialize by “ the end of the year.”

From Burger King’s audacious creation of the ‘Keep it Real Meals’ to McDonald’s ambitious Virtual Landgrab, and Wendy’s bold foray into a Virtual Hangout Space within Fortnite to Starbucks NFT program – Odyssey Loyalty Program, globally the F&B industry has had some early adopters of the metaverse space.

Most brands are linking their virtual presence to their online e-commerce stores so people can order physical food items and have them delivered through their existing logistic partners, points out Sharad Agarwal, Chief Metaverse Officer, Cyber Gear. “Brands can use the metaverse as an additional sales channel by building a digital twin of their physical outlets so clients can invite their guests for virtual parties.”

A report by Citibank has projected that the metaverse is going to be a $13 trillion opportunity by 2030 with over 5 billion people on the planet spending at least a couple of hours in the metaverse everyday. According to Sunjeh Raja, Director & CEO, of the International Centre for Culinary Arts (ICCA Dubai), tech might well be the knight in shining armor for the food and hospitality industry, given the shortage of skilled talent the industry is currently grappling with. Raja remarks that questions over integrity in the delivery of training, in terms of quality, content, standards, outcome and the lack of validation, have increasingly plagued the food and hospitality space, which is where the metaverse can be a game-changer. “The irrefutable potential of delivering an immersive and interactive hyper-real learning experience in the metaverse in a highly economical and sustainable way, supported by the blockchain, where events cannot be altered retroactively, holds the key to how things will increasingly be in the future,” he says.

As technology progresses, the metaverse space is gearing up to unlock new dimensions of sensory immersion, and one area of great interest lies in the realm of smell. While scents have been almost impossible to convey digitally, Agarwal predicts that significant breakthroughs are on the horizon. “In reality, smell is important, the chemical language of scent is a physical sensation as it affects us directly and deeply.”

In the pursuit of crafting augmented and virtual reality experiences within the metaverse, organizations worldwide are exploring the frontiers of multisensory technology. “These companies are working on developing multisensory technologies and digital equivalents for the five human senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell which will redefine how we interact with technology,” says Agarwal.

A metaverse recipe for innovation

In the food industry, a similar wave of exploration is underway as blockchain technology captures the attention of industry players with its boundless potential being recognized by the food arena. Drawing on the lines of ‘Securities and Security Tokens;’ Mahfoudh sheds light on path-breaking initiatives that harness tokenization for fundraising and project financing. Notable examples include AgriChain and FoodTrax. He anticipates a surge in adoption as regulations progressively clarify over the next 3-5 years, facilitating broader access to funding from a global pool of investors.

As for OneRare, the core of the company’s gameplay features ingredient and dish NFTs which means there is constant accountability and ownership for assets. “Anything built on the blockchain allows for transparency and trust thanks to the openness of the technology and allows any partner or user to know exactly what is happening,” states Raju.

The next iteration for One Rare is to work with global partners and bring interactive experiences like virtual restaurants that facilitate table reservations, online ordering, cook-to-order gameplay etc. “Over the next three years, Web3 will become a big part of a brand’s strategy in marketing to new users and creating new monetization models.”

If a recent study conducted by SkyQuest Technology Consulting is anything to go by, the food and beverage market is poised to witness a staggering surge in metaverse-enabled technology, projected to exceed a staggering $499.9 billion by the end of the decade.

Concepts like fan engagement, loyalty points, participation in the ownership of a serious IP or a gamification concept in engaging fans in creating new restaurant experiences, or even new recipes are geared to find new ground and enhance both the experience of the consumers, as well as allowing chefs and others to monetize their own innovation. “Tokenization can be pushed to allow the consumers a direct participation in the financials of their preferred outlets or chefs, which I expect it to be a major trend to be seen in the integration of this technology with the industry,” contends Mahfoudh.

New trends, such as providing monetization routes for the creators in what is called ‘creators economy’, as well as more engaged interaction with fans providing a more personalized and engaged experiences for consumers, Mahfoudh feels, will become one of many use cases for investors to keep an eye on.

Thanks to the new socio-financial media of Web3 and blockchain, chefs, as well as celebrities and artists, will be able to monetize their innovations and force restaurants and other players to adjust their business models to become platforms of engagement. “The use of blockchain will enable the various actors in this industry to adapt their business models to a new world with a new business model,” says Mahfoudh.

Raju also asserts that celebrity chefs and restaurants can celebrate their signature dishes as NFTs and eventually, this could lead to NFT Loyalty Clubs, special events and so much more, “it’s a powerful metaverse experience could enable global popularity for a chef or brand, leading to franchises, pop-ups and new business models,” he says.

A taste of the future

Sharad Agarwal, Chief Metaverse Officer, Cyber Gear. Courtesy of Cyber Gear.

The integration of blockchain as a backend technology is set to revolutionize various areas in the supply chain for virtual restaurants, resulting in direct economic benefits, particularly in the realms of traceability and certification, where the blockchain technology specifically provides better advantage at a lower cost, compared to non-blockchain technology. “The usage of blockchain adds additional benefits, mostly the fact that this technology is more accessible to a wider user-base and provides out-of-the-box features, such as security and immutability of transactions, which reduces the cost of technology for the virtual restaurants,” observes Mahfoudh.

The technology also allows for better interconnectivity with other providers which again reduces costs and allows the virtual restaurants to focus on key strengths, such as becoming an efficient platform directly connecting providers to consumers. “The key impact will be on shifting the focus of financial power towards the ‘creators’ such as chefs, as well as empowering the consumers, making these virtual restaurants acting more like platforms and aggregators with more automated supply-chain process and delivery models,” he says.

One business model that Mahfoudh believes will become possible through the usage of blockchain and tokenization is that virtual restaurants will become decentralized platforms for peer-to-peer interaction between chefs, or ‘creators’, and consumers. These platforms, he hints, will need to be lean and efficient in reducing the cost of creating new recipes, sourcing the different ingredients, preparing the required meal, and use an efficient model of delivery, allowing them to be more efficient, scalable, and more economical while providing a personalized experience to consumers.

A nod to the sentiment, the UAE’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Strategy has presented a well-defined roadmap for progress under its “The Security of The Future” pillar, a strategy which focuses on harnessing advanced technologies, renewable energy, and bioengineering sciences to achieve a sustainable and secure food and water supply.

As part of the 4IR Strategy, the UAE’s Food Tech Valley in Dubai was launched in 2021, serving as a pioneering example on a global scale, an initiative that encompasses two main objectives: strategic food production for attaining self-sufficiency and long-term solutions for resource conservation and sustainability. Envisioned as an integrated modern city, it functions as a central hub for clean tech-based food and agricultural products, while also serving as an incubator for researchers, entrepreneurs, startups, and industry experts dedicated to developing ground-breaking solutions that have the potential to shape the future of the food industry. As Mafoudh puts it, “a serious disruption of the business by new wave of food tech with a wider adoption of blockchain and tokenization technologies is underway.” 

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