WHEN THE UNDERGROUND CHECKS IN: A COFFEE CALLED FOLKS

“The next generation of hospitality may not borrow culture. It may grow out of culture.”

Take Away

Luxury hospitality has traditionally borrowed culture through famous DJs, artists, and celebrity chefs. But a new approach is emerging: build hospitality around cultures and communities that already matter.

From underground music scenes to independent coffee brands, these communities create their own identities and influence trends before they reach the mainstream.

The opportunity is clear: stop borrowing culture and start building hospitality around it.

The Sign

What Is It?

Coffee Called Folks may be one of the most unexpected examples of how culture, coffee and hospitality can intersect.

It’s like a record label for coffee.

Rather than simply selling coffee, Folks works with artists to develop coffee products connected to their creative identities and audiences. Coffee becomes more than a product. It becomes a cultural object that connects an artist, a community and a shared sense of identity.

That is what makes the concept interesting.

The real opportunity is not just selling coffee. It is turning everyday consumption into participation in a cultural world.

This idea also offers a fresh perspective on the future of hospitality.

Traditionally, hotels and restaurants have created experiences designed to appeal to their guests. The emerging model starts somewhere else: with a community, creative scene or cultural movement that already exists.

Hospitality then provides a physical place for that culture to grow. People can meet, stay, eat, drink, dance, create and belong.

The direction of travel is changing.

The traditional model is simple:

Hotel → hires culture

The emerging model turns this around:

Culture → creates hospitality

Instead of asking how a hotel, restaurant or club can become more culturally relevant, the opportunity is to build a hospitality concept around a culture that already matters

Why Is It Cool?

Because it changes who gets to decide what is desirable.

For years, luxury hospitality has often looked upwards for inspiration. Brands have relied on luxury labels, Michelin-starred chefs, famous architects and celebrity partnerships to create desirable experiences.

But tomorrow’s cultural influence may come from somewhere entirely different.

• A small underground music scene.
• An independent dance collective.
• A cult coffee community.
• A streetwear tribe.
• A new generation of creative talent.

These communities already possess something hospitality brands spend enormous amounts of money trying to create: cultural credibility.

Their appeal comes from shared values, genuine connections and a strong sense of belonging. They are not simply audiences waiting to be targeted. They are communities actively shaping tastes, trends and identities.

For hospitality brands, the opportunity is to recognise these cultural signals early and create spaces where communities can connect on their own terms.

The result is an experience that feels authentic rather than manufactured.

Why Does It Future Growth Potential?

Younger consumers increasingly discover brands through cultural communities, creative identities and shared interests rather than through traditional product categories alone.

Music can become coffee.

Coffee can become community.

Community can become a venue.

A venue can become a hospitality concept.

As these connections grow, the boundaries between hotels, clubs, restaurants, retail, entertainment and cultural platforms become less distinct.

This shift is particularly relevant to luxury hospitality.

When premium materials, beautiful design and high-quality service become more widely available, cultural access can become a more distinctive form of exclusivity.

The most desirable hospitality experiences may not simply offer better rooms, better food or more luxurious interiors. They may offer access to a cultural world that guests cannot easily find elsewhere.

For hospitality brands, this creates an opportunity to build stronger communities, develop more distinctive concepts and create experiences that encourage people to return.

The key is to move beyond using culture as decoration. Instead, brands can create the conditions for culture to thrive.

Author: Josh Levine, The Cool ‘before Culture Goes Mainstream’ Hunter

Editor: Kotryna Paškevičė