When the late Pappachaga said, “I envision a world where on a late rainy evening, I can walk into a diner in anytown…and my milkshake will come from grass fed Guernsey cows, my grilled cheese cooked with fresh made organic sourdough. I will not rest until this vision is in front of me on my plate,” this is what he meant:
Today, Shoqanaw announces its partnership with Madeline’s*, a platform and network for the global artisanal food supply chain.
This brings to mind, and starts with, cheese, tea, honey, preserves, but naturally extends into whatever you may find in the kitchen, the garden, the farm, the bay, the forest.
If you’ve been following Shoqanaw, you’ve probably seen references to cyberbotany, loosely defined as the novel and renewed life or spirit of nature that emerges from communication, software, and organizational innovations integrating with the biosphere.
In Madeline’s, we see a cyberbotanical vision to provide a solution to our food problems where other attempts fail or reach their limits.
Rather than placing the burden entirely on individual discernment or having to compromise between quality and scale, Madeline’s believes the solution, instead, lies in combining modern technology, financing, manufacturing, and distribution methods with artisan craftsmanship. This will be realized through both a front-end and back-end platform to create a distributed network that solves access to quality food at scale for consumers, producers, investors and partners.
Thus far, Madeline’s has started partnering with artisans to a) guide product development in a tight feedback loop currently focused on internal tools and b) create a curated marketplace to increase discoverability. The v1 marketplace is preparing for launch and as of today has about 150 products in stock. These initiatives will extend to close partnerships with Shoqanaw on bounties, crypto-commerce, referral programs, brand incubation, and other collaborations.
We’ll keep you informed as new developments unfold, but for now, if you have recommendations for products, farms, and artisans, believe you can help in any of the above-mentioned initiatives, or think of partnership ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Don’t forget: the vision is fresh potato chips, delicately cooked in olive oil, available at the local grocery store. The vision is homemade marmalade at your nearest diner. The vision is shucking oysters at sunset. The vision is access to real wasabi. Chaga tincture from the north. Old time tomato seeds. Beef organ stock. Wuyi Tie Luo Han. Sardinhas, harissa, pierogi, droëwors, blini, kimchi, ghee, lutefisk, sweet tea, egg coffee. The vision is ceviche. The vision is cyberbotanical revolution. The vision will take a global village.
*You may recognize Madeline’s brand from the Shoqanaw ecosystem. In developing this partnership, Collect Pond License Group (responsible for design and licensing of our brand lines) has white-labeled the Madeline’s assets, given the brand’s botanical themes and not-so-subtle nod to a delicious style of cookie.