The Crypto n Kafe ICO is currently going on with around a month left. So far their website is already displaying sales of over 15,000 ETH.
Their website: https://goo.gl/qavQwQ
What is Crypto n Kafe?
They're planning to create a new decentralized platform to improve some of the issues that the coffee industry faces. According to their whitepaper the 6 biggest coffee trading companies have a monopoly on over 50% of the market. The roasting industry is even worse with it being dominated by just 2 companies which control over 50% of the market.
By controlling such a large amount of the market these huge brands have far too much power, making it very hard for small coffee growers, traders and roasters to compete.
Small farmers can't compete
Small coffee farmers are finding it harder and harder to compete. The big brands dominate the trading market meaning that these small growers only have a few people that they can sell their coffee to. This then means that the price they're offered is far too low for them to make even a living wage, let alone run a successful farming business. It's estimated that less than 10% of the price of a cup of coffee goes to the farmer.
In their whitepaper 'Crypto n Kafe' state some of the big problems that these small scale farmers face:
Most of these small farmers can't even afford to feed their family so obviously they're not able to save. This then means that they're often forced to take out high interest loans which then decreases their profit even further.
Coffee normally grows best at high altitude. This means that the farmers are forced to live in remote areas without access to the best supplies.
Most of the small cooperatives are poorly run with the money they're given often wasted.
Climate change is also starting to effect these small scale growers more and more with the increase in temperature effecting their crop.
There often isn't sufficient training available for growers in these developing nations. This can mean that the farmers aren't using the best farming practices and therefore can't maximize their harvest.
Solving these problems
The new project from Crypto n Kafe is hoping to solve many of the problems that small coffee growers face.
Access to credit
The new platform hopes to assist coffee farmers in acquiring funds for their operations. It can be close to impossible for small farmers to receive loans from traditional funding avenues. This means that they're often forced to find funding from small lenders who often charge high interest rates.
If the farmers can gain access to loans at a reasonable rate of interest then they'll be able to purchase the best equipment which will increase their profitability.
Lack of transparency
There's also concerns about the lack of transparency in the market. Commodity price indices's are used but these are generally for investors and speculators rather than providing an accurate figure for specialty coffee markets.
The coffee supply chain
Most of the world's coffee comes from small time farmers. 80% of the worlds coffee comes from a huge 25 million different farmers. However retail is dominated by well known brands. Starbucks have over 22,000 retail stores, 10th on the list is Tullys who have a comparatively small numbers of stores at just 600.
Leveraging the blockchain
As with many of the recent blockchain based projects Crypto n Kafe plans to make use of smart contracts on the Ethereum network.
A smart contract is a pre defined agreement that is executed when conditions are met. A smart contract is similar to a decentralized Escrow service with the cryptocurrency being stored until the conditions are met. This contract can be viewed by anyone, which creates a more trustful environment for both parties involved.
The Crypto n Kafe platform
The new platform will aim to bring together all participants in the coffee supply chain and offer them advantages:
Farmers: Farmers will be able to upload details of their products and set a price for them. Payments on the platform will be made with CNK tokens. The farmers will also be able to access training on cryptocurrency and banking.
Importers: The platform hopes to create a more competitive market and offer chances for smaller importers to compete with their larger competitors. With access to many different farmers they'll be able to select the best coffee.
Roasters: Roasters will also be targeted, presented with a list of different importers that they can purchase from using the new CNK tokens.
Retailers: Retailers will also be presented with access to the entire database of roasters, importers and farmers. They can purchase from the roasters as most do. They'll also however have the option of going direct to the farmer which could offer them with better prices and a different marketing angle to their customers.
Consumers: Consumers will hopefully be presented with better quality at a lower cost. They'll be able to purchase coffee with CNK tokens from retailers which can be used with a mobile app or card.
Key features
E commerce site: The new website will be the key to the project with all of these involved in the coffee supply chain brought together. Farmers will have the chance to create their own profile, upload pictures to attract customers and provide a review section for their customers to leave them reviews. Importers and retailers will also have the same benefits and be able to leave reviews for the purchases that they make.
Learning hub: Many of the participants on the website may be new to cryptocurrency so they plan to offer a learning section to provide them with all the information they need to use the platform and accept payments with the new cryptocurrency.
Crypto card: To make payments easier for the participants of the platform they also plan to offer a card to make transactions simpler.
P2P Exchange: Users will be able to use a traditional type of exchange or perform margin trading. The exchange will be both web and app based.
Wallet app: The app based wallet will be simple for users to install and use and will allow them to send tokens to other users.
Crypto n Kafe ICO Details
- End date: March 25.
- Price: 1 ETH= 1050 CNK, early bonuses are available.
- Type of token: ERC20
Conclusion
This token sale is looking likely to be one of the most successful ICOs of the month. The coffee industry does have genuine problems with the majority of the revenue going to retailers and traders, the amounts that farmers earn isn't even enough to provide for their families.
The project is ambitious however with the amount raised in the ICO they should have a adequate budget to attract users to the new platform.
Check out their website here: https://goo.gl/qavQwQ
ANN thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2746192
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