Dubai: Now, special NFT can get you dinner for 2 at Michelin restaurant

Just when you think these artistic, cryptographic tokens can't be used in the real world of food and beverage, here's an expert explaining the benefits of creating them for the industry

Published: Tue 21 Feb 2023, 4:42 PM

Updated: Tue 21 Feb 2023, 9:48 PM

By
Lamya Tawfik

File photo

Visitors to Gulfood can get an exclusive opportunity to get their hands on an NFT that is linked to a Michelin-star restaurant.

“For the first time ever, visitors to Foodverse area in Gulfood can get the NFT which gives them dinner for two at a Michelin-star restaurant – they can access the restaurant without a reservation. They will acknowledge that you’re in fact the owner of the NFT,” said Adib Samara from Deca4 Advisory, a company that helps entities explore the potential of Web 3.

According to Adib, the concept behind using NFTs in the food and beverage industry is to create personalised, customised experiences for those who own them. “It’s about the creativity and the benefits you can provide the NFT owners,” he said.

The UAE is one of the leading countries and the first movers when it comes to adopting NFTs, according to Adib.

“I think the beautiful thing about the UAE is that ready we’re heading in that direction. You have regulators that are paving the way for global assets globally. There are also funds that are interested in investing in the space, like Hub71+ Digital Assets which recently announced a $ 2-billion fund to support startups within the ecosystem that are pushing Web 3 technologies,” he said.

An NFT, within the realms of the food and beverage industry, can include memberships, exclusive experiences, building a community, and loyalty programmes. “You can mint an NFT that gives you a digital membership which then gives you access to a members lounge or an exclusive restaurant or it could be a ticket,” he said.

Is it a voucher?

Isn’t it the same as an e-voucher? No, said Adib. An NFT prevents fraud. “Once you’ve minted it from your wallet, it belongs to you and there’s no other way to remove that ownership from you unless someone purchases that NFT from you. That NFT becomes linked to you and to your wallet,” he explained.

Adib added that the UAE is one of the first globally to experience new technologies. And whether or not the technologies stay, the UAE can be part of the conversation.

“The idea behind Foodverse here at Gulfood is to establish an ecosystem using new technologies to support the education around food and the culinary experience,” he said, adding that it was brainchild of the founder of the International Centre for Culinary Arts, who sought to expand the physical cooking school to train and educate chefs globally through a new platform and through the foodverse.

“You can begin to create food demonstrations, engage with virtual realities through a chef and you can learn how to cook and flip burgers without food wastage and without the existing platform of education that don’t personalise, customise, and engage with the end user,” he said. Affordability, he explained, is a plus to using the foodverse.

“You can now work with different technology providers to create the new foodverse ecosystem. It’s a democratised platform where various technologies can come in to help build the educational platform of the future,” explained Adib.

At Foodverse, visitors can also create their own avatars, a photorealistic copy of themselves, which they can use as an identity in the digital world.

“The metaverse ecosystem is linked to two main things, your wallet and your avatar – your identity in the digital world. You can use the avatar in an online game or at some point it can be linked to your wallet and as you enter the metaverse, it becomes your identification as you begin to socialize with other people online and engage with their avatars you can use this digital version of yourself online,” said Adib.

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