Interview, Part 2: Rythm Inc. Execs On The Consumers Driving Hemp THC
October 28, 2025In the second part of our interview, Green Thumb Industries and Rythm Inc. CEO Ben Kovler; chief revenue officer Dominic O’Brien; and Señorita founder Charles Bieler discuss the consumer groups and trade channels driving the rapid expansion of hemp THC beverages in the U.S., as well as the current landscape for Green Thumb’s traditional dispensary business.
SND: What stands out in terms of demographics driving the hemp THC category?
Kovler: The consumer of a low-dose THC beverage is not the core consumer of the cannabis dispensary. In a dispensary, you’re seeing 1% to 2% sales of the total basket in beverage. At Top Ten Liquors in Minnesota, for example, they’re seeing upwards of 20% of sales in THC. So it’s a different consumer, it’s the soccer moms and other non-traditional cannabis consumers, and it’s expanding the market in a major way.
O’Brien: There’s a huge subset of consumers who just don’t want to smoke anything. So the beverage format, not only is it natural for the Gen Z folks who are already leaning more into cannabis, but it also removes a lot of the stigma for the older generations and they’ve been exploring this a lot. All the insights work we’ve done shows that every single age cohort is leaning into THC beverages. Not at the same rate—younger consumers are leaning in more, but we’re seeing all of them in the category.
Bieler: The alcohol industry has mixed feelings, but the idea that THC is just stealing customers away is not accurate. Consumers have been choosing to drink less alcohol for some time, and this is allowing a restaurant to sell something when otherwise the consumer was ordering water. This allows the retailer to sell something when there were fewer people walking in the store. The people who are buying THC are largely people who hadn’t been in the store before. They’re new shoppers.
SND: How is the on-premise side developing?
Kovler: We’re in Chicago with the hottest new independent venue Salt Shed, where we have the exclusive THC pour at the venue. This is offered everywhere they offer beer, hard seltzer, and this is driving more people to the bar.
At retail some of the larger chains are getting into the space. We’re starting to hit a velocity where our brands are driving traffic, we’re putting sampling out there on Friday afternoon, and we are 100% behind this. This is not a “test it out and see how it goes.” We know the consumer loves the product, and with the backing of Green Thumb we can go execute this as a multi-year plan.
O’Brien: The feedback from the on-premise is that it’s been very, very positive. The biggest question for them is how do I get insurance, and there are solutions for that.
SND: What are you seeing on the Green Thumb side with the traditional dispensary channel for cannabis?
Kovler: We’ve continued to run state-regulated cannabis stores; we have 109 Rise stores open today. The business is good. The biggest challenge in the cannabis space is pricing pressure. Pricing continues to go down even in categories that remain strong. Our Rythm premium cannabis flower remains the number-one premium flower out there. But you’re seeing consumers trade down on value and we’re seeing a lot of innovation on the vape side. Dogwalkers remains very strong in the pre-roll category.
THC demand throughout the country is through the roof and only getting bigger. That’s part of the reason why the drinks are so successful. We’re just playing that THC demand with all of our products, whether they’re sold in the dispensaries or liquor stores or convenience stores, it’s all the same for the consumer.
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