For anyone who wants to drink their cannabis, 2021 has been a good year.
The reason for this surfeit of choice is that drinks were, at one point in time, expected to be the future of cannabis.
But despite the industry’s enthusiasm, sales of the beverages have lagged expectations, leading some observers to say that the category’s potential was exaggerated.
According to data from the Ontario Cannabis Store, the province’s online retailer and wholesale distributor, cannabis beverage sales between April 1 and June 30 amounted to $4.8-million, or 2 per cent of Ontario’s total cannabis market during that time.
Frederico Gomes, a cannabis analyst at ATB Capital Markets, estimates that the total Canadian wholesale market for cannabis beverages in 2021 could amount to $60-million, or close to $100-million at retail.
“Obviously, the market did not grow as expected,” Mr. Gomes said.
In 2017, beer and wine distributor Constellation Brands bought a $245-million stake in Canopy Growth – the start of a series of investments that now total more than $5-billion.
In 2019, Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev partnered with Tilray on Fluent Beverages, a $100-million joint venture aimed at developing cannabis drinks.
According to Headset, a cannabis research firm based in Seattle, growth of cannabis beverage sales in Canada is expected to outpace the growth of the total cannabis market.
Hexo, one of only a few cannabis companies that separately reports its drink revenue, says its products account for 50 per cent of cannabis beverage sales in Canada.
Other companies have avoided the drinks category.
“Given the headwinds that I see in beverages, there’s no point for us to move into it.
He said he would reconsider if cannabis beverages started to be sold alongside alcohol in government-run liquor stores – although at the moment there are no plans for that to happen.
“They’ve got themselves in a pickle now, where they put all their eggs in the basket of beverages.
“At the beginning, it was about who could spread the fastest and cover the most real estate,” said Lucas C.
We’re seeing companies centralizing their operations, selling facilities at a fraction of the price, and cutting jobs.
Now, some manufacturers are using “nano-emulsification,” a process that breaks down cannabis particles so they can distribute evenly within a drink.
This process also speeds up the onset of psychological effects, Mr. McCann said.
This is at the bottom of the range of what a habitual user would consume in a sitting, and it’s much more expensive per psychoactive unit than dried flower.
The OCS charges $10.95 for the Regal Pink Grape Sparkler drink, which contains the maximum 10 milligrams. Cheaper, less potent options are also available.
Some drinks, like Canopy Growth’s 355-mililitre formats, count for as many 5.1 grams towards that limit, meaning consumers can only buy five at a time.