Starbucks is today officially introducing Starbucks Odyssey, launching later this year -- the coffee chain's first foray into building with web3 technology. The new experience combines the company's successful Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with an NFT platform, allowing its customers to both earn and purchase digital assets that unlock exclusive experiences and rewards.

The company had earlier teased its web3 plans to investors, saying it believed this new experience would build on the current Starbucks Rewards model where customers today earn "stars" which can be exchanged for perks, like free drinks. It envisions Starbucks Odyssey as a way for its most loyal customers to earn a broader set of rewards while also building community.

To develop the project, Starbucks brought in Adam Brotman, the architect of its Mobile Order & Pay system and the Starbucks app, to help serve as a special advisor. Now the co-founder of Forum3, a web3 loyalty startup, Brotman's team worked on Starbucks Odyssey alongside the Seattle coffee chain's own marketing, loyalty, and technology teams.

While Starbucks had been investigating blockchain technologies for a couple of years, it has only been involved in this particular project for around six months, Starbucks CMO Brady Brewer told TechCrunch. He says the company wanted to invest in this area, but not as a "stunt" side project, as many companies are doing. Rather, it wanted to find a way to use the technology to enhance its business and expand its existing loyalty program.

It opted to make NFTs the passes that allow access to this digital community, but it's intentionally obscuring the nature of the technology underpinning the experience in order to bring in more consumers -- including non-technical people -- to the web3 platform.

"It happens to be built on blockchain and web3 technologies, but the customer -- to be honest -- may very well not even know that what they're doing is interacting with blockchain technology. It's just the enabler," Brewer explains.