Cannabis beverages are gaining increasing market share as their accessible, discrete, and regulated format makes them a popular choice for newer marijuana consumers as more recreational markets open up.
The global market for cannabis beverages was estimated to be valued at US$400 million in 2022 and to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 37.8% to US$8.7 billion by 2032, per an analysis by Fact.MR.
According to a recently published report by Prohibition Partners, cannabis beverages represent potentially the most significant next step for the cannabis sector.
Report author Chris Murray highlighted that the central challenge for the cannabis industry globally is that current consumers prefer to experience the product by smoking it.
“However, this choice of consumption is much less approachable for new consumers,” Murray said. “With most of the world’s health systems beating a drum about the harms of inhaled smoke for over four decades, asking many of those same health systems to accept smoking of a different substance, is an uphill battle in the simplest terms.”
Cannabis beverages are an increasingly popular alternative to smoking marijuana. The number of cannabis beverage consumers and manufacturers are both growing at a high rate in the United States, Murray noted in the report.
Boosting the adoption of cannabis beverages are trends around consumers seeking less sugary and low or no-alcohol beverage choices, with the non-alcohol industry growing 31% to $510 million in 2023 according to NielsenIQ.
“This year, 2024, could see an explosion of these products across America, in a way that would make players in the Canadian market sit up and take note,” Murray wrote. “We may soon see beverages finding their place in fridges across the country.”
John Kueber, the CEO of leading US cannabis beverages company Nevis Brands (CSE:NEVI), said cannabis beverages continue to grow in their appeal to consumers as a “safe, fun and sociable way to enjoy cannabis.”
Nevis Brands (CSE:NEVI)’ flagship product is its Major-branded THC beverages, which launched in March 2019 in Washington State and have since expanded into other markets including Oregon, Arizona, Ohio, Colorado, and Nevada.
"As consumers continue to understand that beverages like Major can deliver a quick onset of effects in 15 to 20 minutes, trust has grown that this method of consumption can actually be preferable to smoking or other edible formats,” Kueber said.
And, as more consumers turn to cannabis beverages, he expects to see lower-dose options gain traction.
"Nevis Brands continues to focus on its Major brand of great tasting, high-dose beverages that pack a powerful punch of 100mg in small packages of 2 to 6 ounces,” he said.
“However, as the market becomes even more mainstream for beverages, we believe that lower dose, ‘sessionable’ beverages with 5mg to 10mg of THC will have growing appeal in the coming years.”