Cannabis beverages in Canada beset by delays
Canada | The hype over Cannabis beverages seems to have fizzled. Brewers AB-InBev, Molson Coors and Constellation Brands had big plans to sell THC- or CBD-infused beverages by the end of last year. But only two have hit shelves yet.
As reports the website hempindustrydaily.com, in March, Fluent Beverage, a partnership between AB-InBev and Canadian cannabis firm Tilray, began selling Everie, a non-alcoholic CBD-infused sparkling beverage.
Also in March, Constellation’s partner Canopy launched Tweed Houndstooth & Soda, a non-alcoholic beverage with 2 mg of THC. The company plans to introduce several other cannabis beverages this year, including seltzer-like beverages infused with CBD and THC.
Meanwhile, Truss Beverage, a joint venture between Molson Coors and cannabis company HEXO, has promised that a line of CBD drinks, branded Flow Glow, “will be coming soon.”
High hopes and little payback
The slow launches didn’t exactly meet companies’ projections when the projects were announced last year. Neither AB-InBev nor Molson Coors have issued forecasts about the size of the cannabis beverage market in Canada.
Canada legalised cannabis in October of 2018, but it delayed the sale of THC and CBD beverages for a year. December 2019 was the earliest they could go on sale, after accounting for a two-month application process.
Beverage companies had looked to Canada as a testing ground for novel beverages which could eventually be introduced into the United States, a far bigger market than Canada.
The website hempindustrydaily.com said that beverage firms have encountered problems with packaging and flavouring. Putting beverages into cans proved an obstacle as traditional aluminium cans have thin liners that can draw cannabinoids out of suspension and thus take the potency away from the drink.
According to industry rumour, companies were also struggling to prevent the drink from separating in the packaging over a longer period of time and sink to the bottom.
Distribution is the bottleneck
The major problem, however, is distribution. At the moment, CBD and THC beverages can only be sold at licensed cannabis retailers, of which there are few. They cannot be flogged at grocery stores or convenience stores, which greatly limits their availability.
That could be changing, though, the website reports. Canada’s health regulators have started considering whether CBD-infused beverages, which don’t get you high like THC-infused ones, should be allowed to be sold as health products in conventional stores such as pharmacies. A decision could happen within months.
