Wynk THC Seltzers Expand To Five New Markets Amid Rapid Growth
December 26, 2023When Wynk, a hemp-derived THC seltzer, launched in the summer of 2021, it came to market in an unconventional way. Due to the difficulties of interstate shipping, the brand’s original production line was loaded on the back of a semi truck, allowing the company to travel to different markets and then produce the drink on-site. Since then the brand has become one of the most popular cannabis beverages in the U.S. and has scaled up its footprint rapidly, expanding into 12 new states in 12 months to bring it to current retail availability in 16 states, along with DTC in 33 markets.
The company has continued to innovate, adding a second brand in early 2023 under the name Countdown. Concurrent with launching Countdown, the Pennsylvania-based company renamed itself Wherehouse Beverage Co. as the overarching name for its stable of brands. Where Wynk plays in the low-dose space with 2.5mg and 5mg of THC options, Countdown features 25mg and 50mg options, which Phil McFarland, general manager of THC beverages at Wherehouse, says has fared much better in the dispensary channel.
“The reception to Countdown has been so strong, it’s given us confidence in the strategy we have for 2024,” he told SNDC. “Pushing 2.5mg and 5mg Wynk in dispensaries was tough—the consumer for a low-dose drink isn’t going to a dispensary and the consumers that are going to dispensaries want something stronger.” With Countdown now in 10 markets, the company plans to launch the brand’s first 100mg option, a lemonade, early next year.
Going forward, the lower-dose Wynk brand won’t need to compete solely in the dispensary channel. Thanks to its hemp-derived status, Wynk can be sold in traditional beverage retail. Already available in over 100 stores in Minnesota, which has led the way in placing cannabis drinks on shelves, Wherehouse recently inked a series of distribution deals that will bring Wynk to traditional retail in five markets: Chicagoland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Ohio. The Wynk brand also received a refresh this year.
“The consumers for a 2.5mg drink are in liquor stores,” McFarland said. “We finally have the product in the right place for the people who want to buy it. Bringing these products into the mainstream takes away the stigma and introduces them to more people who will see how they can integrate it into their lives and potentially find their way into the dispensary.”
Looking ahead, McFarland noted that the success of the new retail channel will depend on education, first of the distributors, then the retailers, and finally the consumer. Those parties need to understand both what the product is and what it offers, and that it’s above-board for it to be sold in traditional channels. —Danny Sullivan
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