Interview, Part 1: Cann Co-Founder Jake Bullock
April 16, 2024Cann, the Los Angeles-based cannabis drinks company founded in 2019, saw a marked expansion in 2023, adding 10 new retail markets across the U.S., in addition to its robust DTC business. The company’s portfolio consists of drinks with 1-, 2-, or 5-milligrams of THC blended with CBD covering four flavors—Blood Orange Cardamom, Lemon Lavender, Grapefruit Rosemary, and Ginger Lemongrass. Twelve-packs retail at around $50. Last year, the brand grew 60% over 2022, and it’s currently available in more than 1,200 retailers, including chains like Total Wine. This year, volume is estimated at around 9 million cans, generating revenue of above $36 million. SNDC senior editor Shane English caught up with co-founder Jake Bullock for an update on the company’s prospects as cannabis beverages continue to grow in popularity.
SND: What jumpstarted your expansion in 2023?
Bullock: When we started 2023, we were primarily in Minnesota. From a retail standpoint, that was the only place where we were in stores. Now we’re in Connecticut, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, California, New Jersey, New York, and Colorado. (Additional markets include Arizona, Nevada, and Illinois.)
Then online, we continue to grow and acquire customers. Typically, beverages aren’t sold online, in part because there’s not enough margin space for it to make economic sense and they’re ubiquitous in retail. That’s not the case with our beverages. As a result, what we see is consumers are really eager to find them and ultimately online is often the easiest way for them to do that. Our online business continues to grow quarter over quarter and accounts for about two-thirds of the business.
SND: How has the brand performed in 2024 so far?
Bullock: We’ve had our best Q1—our best quarter ever—so continuing growth. A lot of that is on the back of growing in retail liquor stores and particularly in Total Wine.
After we started with Total in Minnesota, they said, no, we’re not stopping with Minnesota. We want to expand to other states where we feel comfortable that they have regulatory programs in place to allow these products. So we’ve expanded with them. A number of the states we’re in like Kentucky, Texas, and California, we’re in Total Wine there and that’s been a huge driver.
It’s also about getting people on the alcohol side to start thinking about this as another category to have in the liquor store versus something that’s competitive. It works really well together. We’re seeing that in the data. When someone goes and shops at Total Wine, they tend to buy the same stuff they were buying before; they just add Cann and everyone loves that because it expands the basket.
SND: How do expansion plans look this year?
Bullock: We’ve opened a number of states, Texas being a really fun one, Tennessee and Kentucky as well. We’ve made a lot of progress on that front and we’re hoping to keep up the new state openings.
