Brazil and the 1932 Olympic Games
The country of Brazil had plenty of athletes to send to Los Angeles for the 1932 Olympics, but it didn’t have the money to send them.
Brazil’s solution was extremely unconventional. They loaded the athletes onto a cargo ship full of coffee and sold it along the way to raise the money to get everyone to the games that year.
Fun fact: They're "coffeeshops" because you didn't need a license to open one.