While cannabis drinks currently account for a small piece of the overall category, the segment continues to present opportunities in terms of reaching consumers reluctant to enter cannabis via smokeable flower or vapes.

Canopy Growth remains the leader in the drinks space in Canada, and it’s emphasizing the innovation angle to appeal to new consumers. “Canadians seeking out cannabis beverages primarily fall into two different consumer groups,” Dave Paterson, president, Canada, at Canopy tells SND.

“The first being health and wellness consumers who don’t want to be intoxicated and prefer the option of a CBD beverage. The second are cannabis aficionados who seek out the traditional functional benefits of cannabis. We’re also seeing that the cannabis beverage category brings in net new consumers (approximately 60%). It’s seen as an approachable format from a consumption perspective.”

Canopy’s current top selling SKU is Tweed Lemonade, a 7.5mg THC beverage. Last year, the company launched Deep Space Propulsion, an extension of their popular Deep Space brand, which Paterson notes is the first beverage in the Canadian market to launch with caffeine and CBG combined with natural flavors. Each can of Deep Space Propulsion contains 10mg THC, 30mg of naturally occurring caffeine, and 10mg of CBG.

Paterson says the biggest obstacle to meaningful increases in the cannabis drinks market currently are “regulations which continue to limit engagement with the end consumers to help educate them on this new category, as well as the inability to have beverages sold in locations where alcohol is commonly available for sale, such as sporting events or bars and restaurants.” He’s hopeful that efforts to change the regulations around on-premise consumption will unlock greater growth for beverages moving forward.

“Ultimately cannabis beverages present an exciting opportunity to provide consumers with innovative products including with minor cannabinoids tailored for certain need states, while delivering it in a format that is widely understood and accepted socially,” he says.—Dan Marsteller & Mary Keefe