Business
Could Cannabis-Infused Beverages Ever Overtake Beer and Wine Sales After Federal Legalization?
Would the country ever consume more weed-infused beverages than beer or wine?
In all new legal market structures, you will find consumers yet to have indulged in any form of cannabis, despite the steady pace at which adult use is getting legalized. The use of drinks could pose a simple and friendly method of delivery to new users. According to reports by New Food, Jake Bullock, founder, and CEO of Cann, a company that deals in cannabis-infused drinks, said that the beverage sector is among the fastest developing in the marijuana industry.
Bullock stated that the company is trying to produce something unrestricted and fresh that has never been tried before. He added that the aim of the firm is not to draw marijuana smokers from their joints. Instead, it is to attract alcohol drinkers from their beers.
AN EXPANDING MOVEMENT
In areas that have legalized cannabis for recreational use, THC-infused drinks are found on the same shelves as other drinks like wine and beers. This raises the question of whether producers of alcoholic drinks should be worried about competition from cannabis-infused drinks. These questions were answered by experts in these industries in a November 2021 report published by Winemag.com.
Colleen McClellan, a trained sommelier and the provincial director of client solutions in Datassential, which is a prominent food and drink insights platform, anticipates business openings in the THC-infused beverages space. She said she thinks that we will keep seeing more interest and use in these drinks as other states soften the regulations.
McClellan forecasts that brands will keep entering the THC beverage space, ultimately leading to a merger.
She says that there are some consumers that relish the use of marijuana THC-infused products because it gives a useful benefit minus the hangover effect. In the United States, consumers’ knowledge of THC drinks increased in 2021 by over 9%, and now 51% of adults over 21 years affirm experience with them, according to a recent report by Datassential. The organization also discovered that THC drinks have the most amount of awareness and interest among older generations.
This may be because of the progress the marijuana industry marketing has achieved over the last decade. In a lot of cities in the United States, going into a dispensary is similar to entering a swanky cafe or an apple store. Cannabis has never been so customized as now when you can pick the strength, strain, and method of use, just like a bag of coffee beans.
According to the Global Cannabis Beverages Industry, a report released by Reportlinker.com last January noted that the global marijuana beverages market was valued at 799.8 million dollars in 2020 and is predicted to get to a new level of 2 billion dollars by 2026, increasing at a CAGR of 16.9%.
As found in the report, the alcoholic portion is readjusted to an amended 15.7% CAGR for the duration of the next seven years.
In the meantime, the non-alcoholic portion is predicted to increase at a 17.5% CAGR to get to 1.6 billion dollars by 2026.
CANN’S CURRENT ACTIONS
Cann, at a fundraising event last February, corroborated a 27 million dollars Series A financing round from existing investors such as Imaginary Ventures, new institutional capital, also from a new roster of celebrity investors like Adam Devine, Sara Foster, Zoey Deutch, Nina Dobrev, Rosario Dawson, and Jordan Cooper.
To add to this landmark financing round, Cann also announced its first international expansion with the launching of the brand in Canada. Jake Bullock said that more than three years ago, they were informed that consumers did not want THC in drinks and that, at best, they were a novelty. However, their expansion to Canada and this fundraiser show that microdose drinks have come to stay. Adults around the world are eager for an alcohol alternative that certainly provides a social buzz and also puts taste first.
BELIEFS OF EXPERTS IN THE MARKET
Morgan McLachlan, master distiller, chief product officer, and co-founder of AMASS, a beverage company that specializes in Botanics-based adaptogenic beverages. Recently, she helped in developing Afterdream, a marijuana-infused non-alcoholic spirit that was created to achieve what the company depicts as a mind-mellowing, limb-loosening high that imitates the feeling gotten by a potent cocktail, that she believes will appeal to people who drink alcohol also.
McLachlan says non-alcoholic beverages and marijuana beverages are the most rapidly growing sectors of the beverage market, with sales rising from 67.8 million dollars in 2019 to 95.2 million dollars in 2020.
She added that the use of recreational cannabis by adults is a rapidly expanding market, and non-alcoholic drinks have even a more swift growth, and that both low and no ABV sectors have risen 506% since 2015 and are expected to attain 280 million dollars in earnings this year. Analysts at Distill Ventures reported that 58% of consumers drink more soft drinks than last year.
Even with this growth in the market, Jim Higdon, chief communication officer and co-founder of a Kentucky-based company that manufactures full-spectrum hemp oils named Cornbread Hemp, does not think traditional alcohol, beer, or wine producers need to be worried.
Higdon says that THC drinks still have a place. However, the place is likely not in the hands of a wine enthusiast with a refined palate as the objective customer for a cannabis beverage is either a person who wants to reduce their alcohol consumption or a novice consumer searching for a non-smoking alternative to consuming marijuana.
It is also his belief that the prosperity of THC-infused beverages will eventually depend on their taste. He also believes marijuana drinks might not be the best appeal to wine enthusiasts to bring them over to weed.
CONCLUSION
We cannot decisively say that the introduction and sale of cannabis will overtake the normal alcohol like beers and wines or spirits, despite the increasing popularity of cannabis. There are still some individuals who prefer to take the regular alcohol to cannabis and others who haven’t tried weed at all. Not until the sale of THC-infused beverages becomes widespread we won’t really know.