{"id":317,"date":"2021-08-05T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenentrepreneur.com\/article\/379393"},"modified":"2021-08-05T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T14:00:00","slug":"why-cannabis-companies-want-you-to-leave-booze-for-weed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=317","title":{"rendered":"Why Cannabis Companies Want You to Leave Booze for Weed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Perks include help with anxiety and hangover-free mornings. <\/p>\n

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Free Book Preview<\/span> Cannabis Capital<\/em> <\/h2>\n

Learn how to get your business funded in the Cannabis economy!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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This story originally appeared on Leaf Report<\/a>
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Legal cannabis companies and entrepreneurs have been incredibly successful selling plant-infused baked goods, chocolates, gummies, and ice cream. But the industry has so far fallen short in convincing users to try drinking their marijuana.<\/p>\n

Now, as more states embrace legalization, some of the largest cannabis companies in the U.S. are looking to capitalize on a largely untapped marijuana beverage industry that could be worth billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much versatility in what cannabis beverages have to offer,\u201d said Chuck Smith, CEO of Denver-based Dixie Elixir \u2013 whose offerings include infused iced tea, berry lemonade and fruit punch drinks. \u201cMany are appropriate for more settings than a beer or mixed drink would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Women Are the Biggest Buyers of Cannabis Drinks<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Seltzers, teas, colas, oh my!<\/b><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s already a smorgasbord of cannabis beverages on the market, and the list of offerings continues to grow. Popular products include infused seltzers, teas, colas \u2013 and even alcohol-free beers, wines and cocktails. Some of the world\u2019s largest booze companies \u2013 Anheuser-Busch, Pabst Brewing and Constellation Brands to name a few \u2014 have pumped investment dollars into drinkable marijuana. Even smaller, craft brewers like SweetWater and Lagunitas have dipped their feet into the business.<\/p>\n

Cannabis beverage sales in the U.S. are projected to tally $421 million this year \u2014 more than double the total from 2019 \u2014 per Brightfield Group, a Chicago-based data firm that researches the marijuana and CBD industries. The firm expects the market for drinkable marijuana products to reach almost $1 billion by 2025.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Sober January Leads to Boost in Cannabis Infused Beverages<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Room for growth<\/b><\/h2>\n

Still, the beverage sector makes up less than 2 percent of the $20 billion legal cannabis industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a category that can be moved dramatically if someone can get it right,\u201d according to Bethany Gomez, Brightfield\u2019s managing director \u2013 who spoke to Politico. \u201cNo one\u2019s gotten it right yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority of marijuana drinks are low in calories, and users almost never suffer the dreaded hangovers that alcohol can bring. But regulatory hurdles have thus far proven to be too large for some companies to overcome.<\/p>\n

With cannabis still outlawed on the federal level, production, bottling and distribution operations are costly and must be set up in each state. On a more practically challenging level, most dispensaries still don\u2019t have refrigerated display cases.<\/p>\n

Many cannabis beverages, including those of Dixie Elixir, pack a THC punch that only regular users with a high tolerance can handle. In many western states, for example, a 12-ounce bottled drink can legally have up to 100 milligrams of the psychoactive compound.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perks include help with anxiety and hangover-free mornings. Free Book Preview Cannabis Capital Learn how to get your business funded in the Cannabis economy! August 5, 2021 3 min read This story originally appeared on Leaf Report Legal cannabis companies and entrepreneurs have been incredibly successful selling plant-infused baked goods, chocolates, gummies, and ice cream. But the industry has so far fallen short in convincing users to try drinking their marijuana. Now, as more states embrace legalization, some of the largest cannabis companies in the U.S. are looking to capitalize on a largely untapped marijuana beverage industry that could be… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}