App empowers random acts of coffee kindness

By Kelcy Dolan
Posted 4/14/16

Whether it’s for early morning meetings or after dinner, coffee often brings us together. Kaneland LLC, a local start-up based out of Providence, hopes to bring us even closer through their newest …

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App empowers random acts of coffee kindness

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Whether it’s for early morning meetings or after dinner, coffee often brings us together. Kaneland LLC, a local start-up based out of Providence, hopes to bring us even closer through their newest app, Nack.

Nack is Kaneland’s first app and allows users to surprise family, friends and even complete strangers with a cup of Joe anywhere in the world, in what the company has deemed “random acts of coffee.”

Paul Haun, 32, founder and CEO of Kaneland LLC, grew up in Warwick, graduated from Boston University and entered the investment world without any intentions of leaving until 2011.

In January of that year Haun’s best friend and cousin, “Tommy” Cavanagh, a Harvard graduate who went on to play professional hockey with the San Jose Sharks, lost his battle with mental illness at the age of 28.

When Cavanagh left professional hockey, Haun thought his cousin was just struggling with the transition into the regular working world. In an effort to lift his spirits the two would discuss their futures, possibly starting a business together, brainstorming for the next big idea. Tommy would always urge the pair to “execute,” to just start and figure it out, but they never did.

With a warm, friendly and outgoing demeanor, many of those close to him were unaware he was suffering from mental illness.

“You always wanted to be on Tommy’s team,” Haun said. “Despite being in the worst moments of his life he preferred to think of others. He had a true knack for kindness.”

After his cousin’s passing, Haun began having dreams featuring Tommy, but he never said anything. In December of 2013, Haun had the same dream yet again, but this time Tommy once again urged his cousin to “execute.”

That next morning when Haun went to get a cup of coffee for his wife at a local Dunkin Donuts, but when they no longer carried her favorite flavor, pumpkin, Haun inevitably brought home a wring order. In another instance, at a friend’s wedding, Haun had wanted to grab coffee for everyone at his table, but not knowing how everyone took their coffee he opted not to.

“I began thinking about the coffee run,” Haun said. “How when you don’t know someone’s order it’s a missed opportunity to share kindness.”

With the “divine” support from his cousin Tommy, Haun left his career in investments and began Kaneland LLC in February 2014, named after his and his cousin’s childhood playhouse, to completely revolutionize the coffee run.

Kaneland’s first mobile application, Nack, officially released at the end of March of this year, is a social network around coffee allowing users to share a cup of Joe with anyone anywhere in the world.

Although the app is available globally, Rhode Island will serve as the demonstration state as Haun has created a close partnership with local coffee chains and individual small stores throughout the state.

“We are starting the boldest kindest movement and it begins right here in Rhode Island,” Haun said.

With Nack users are encouraged to surprise friends, family, coworkers and even strangers with a cup of coffee.

The app allows users to send money with a message and photo for a friend to redeem a cup of their favorite drink at their local coffee shop. Similarly, people can “suspend” coffees around the world. Suspending a coffee is a 150-year-old tradition that started in Naples, Italy. Customers would pay for two drinks, leaving the other to be picked up by those struggling financially or the homeless. The trend quickly spread throughout Europe and has seen a resurgence there in the last couple of years.

The app also tracks and remembers your contact’s order for various coffee shops in your area. This makes it easier to surprise a friend or to streamline the coffee run for work, with increased accessibility to people’s preferences.

Nack also promotes the “pay it forward movement” by encouraging those who have redeemed a cup of coffee to send one themselves to continue the line of “random acts of coffee.”

Nack’s popularity is expected to grow quickly, especially after a July 2015 Gallup Poll found that two-thirds of Americans - about 64 percent - have at least one cup of coffee a day and coffee drinkers on average consume 2.7 cups a day.

Nack doesn’t solely work with national and international chains but also with independent and mom and pop shops. The hope is that this app will provide increased traffic to independently owned stores while giving them the technology backbone to better interact with customers.

Brewed Awakenings, a local chain based out of Rhode Island, was the release partner for Nack, holding the March 29 release at their Warwick location, the country’s largest coffee shop at 8,000 square feet.

David Levesque, owner of Brewed Awakenings, said he was quick to jump on board for Nack when Haun first approached him.

“We have been growing the Brewed brand for nearly 10 years and it’s always been about more than a cup of Joe, and this fits right in line with that,” he said. “Coffee brings people together and the concept of buying a cup of coffee for someone as an act of kindness makes sense to me.”

He believes this app will allow Brewed Awakenings to continue growing their community presence while giving back to their local community.

Kenneth Cavanagh, creative director, said that in the coming months Nack has a lot of opportunity to grow, from strengthening partnerships within the coffee industry, to incorporating more menu items on the app and connecting it with other social media platforms.

“We can track people paying it forward,” Cavanagh said. “We could see a real kindness movement.”

He said that getting coffee with friends or for a work meeting is a social tradition that Nack looks to improve as an easy gesture of kindness.

The app is free for users and currently for businesses. As the popularity grows though Nack will begin making money off the businesses partnered with them for bringing traffic to stores. Nack will receive a small percentage of every cup purchased through the app itself. Nack can also provide data on customer preferences and spending trends for each company to do more targeted marketing.

For more information on Nack and how its used visit www.getnack.com. The app itself is available for free for smart phones on IOS phones and androids.

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