Starbucks is jumping on the NFT bandwagon with plans to introduce a line of branded non-fungible tokens as it faces an unprecedented unionization drive by its baristas nationwide.
The company said in a Tuesday blog post that it would release a series of Starbucks-themed NFT collections that will go beyond digital art.
“We are fascinated by how NFTs allow people to own a programmable, brandable digital asset, that also doubles as an access pass,” the company said in the blog post.
The NFTs will be created both in-house and through partnerships with other brands and individuals, according to a Tuesday blog post.
Owning one of the NFTs will give buyers entry into a community and “access to exclusive experiences and perks,” according to the post.
The development is part of a vision that newly returned CEO Howard Schultz laid out last month for employees at a town hall, in which he said the company would soon “be in the NFT business.” The company’s Tuesday blog post said it would launch the first NFT collection by the end of the year without mentioning whether it would sell the NFTs or give them away.
Meanwhile, Starbucks workers have voted to unionize at more than 50 out of the 9,000 nationwide, with many more stores still waiting to vote on whether to unionize. Starbucks said Tuesday it would raise wages and expand training for employees, but not for unionized workers.
Starbucks has been fighting fiercely against unionization at its U.S. stores since employees at one location in Buffalo first voted to unionize in December. The company has been accused by Workers United, which represents unionized Starbucks workers, of intimidating workers and union busting. The company rejects this claim.
In March, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Starbucks for allegedly firing employees who were working to unionize a Starbucks store in Phoenix. In late April, the NLRB asked a judge to force Starbucks to reinstate the three terminated employees. The company told the Associated Press that it disagreed with the labor board’s accusations and that it found that the employees had violated company policy.
Starbucks did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
As for its NFT plans, the company still has not released many details. In the Tuesday blog post, it hinted at creating a “Starbucks Digital Community” platform that could be linked to rewards and mobile payments.
“We believe NFTs have broad potential to create an expanded, shared-ownership model for loyalty, the offering of unique experiences, community building, storytelling, and customer engagement,” the company said in its post.
