• 🥕 Suja’s Fresh Look
• 🌍 Cambio’s Plastic-free K-Cups
• 👋 Edrington Offloads Two Brands
• 🔥 ​​Coca Cola Spiced Flames Out
• 🍉 Força Unveils Watermelon Seedmilk
• 🥬 Factor Gets Into Powder Form

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It’s been a busy month in the hemp-derived THC industry. Correction: It's been a busy couple of years.

Daily BevNET readers are likely aware of the regulatory setbacks that have hit big cannabis markets like California and New Jersey in recent weeks, but despite those challenges more cannabis industry players are flocking to the opportunity in direct-to-consumer, delta-9 THC beverages.

Today, Canadian cannabis and craft beer company Tilray Brands announced it was releasing its own line of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC drinks in October with a focus on key markets in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee. While the company’s press release did not specify if all four hemp-derived THC mocktails, seltzers and sparkling drinks would follow a similar distribution strategy as other multi-state operators (think: Wana Brands or Curaleaf’s DTC platforms), Tilray’s Happy Flower drinks are available online. 

The news signals that large cannabis companies are not intimidated by state approaches to reining in the hemp-derived THC category; instead they are targeting DTC and Southern states that lack a regulated cannabis market altogether and have, in turn, embraced hemp as an alcohol alternative.

Why not, you might ask? The upsides seem to be outweighing the downsides. For one, a business based on DTC sales is much harder to regulate. The USPS is not equipped to follow state-by-state protocol on products shipped directly to customers’ mailboxes.

Additionally, many of the recent state approaches monitoring hemp D9 products will be or are already being challenged in court thanks in part to the lack of regulatory clarity coming from the federal government and the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

While Minnesota is often pointed to as the case study in how hemp and marijuana can comfortably exist in the same market, there is another Midwestern state making waves in the ongoing war between cannabis industry factions.

Missouri legalized recreational, adult-use marijuana in November 2022; yet, as intoxicating cannabinoid products (think Delta-8 or Delta-10) began to circumvent the dispensary channel, the state’s governor tried to sack the hemp industry’s end-around strategy. On August 1, Governor Michael Parson issued executive order 24-10 saying that it is illegal to sell “foods containing unregulated psychoactive cannabis products”. He also directed the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) prohibit the sale of these products in liquor-licensed facilities.

Then, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft clapped back at Governor Parson’s emergency order blocking the ATC from preventing intoxicating products from being sold at liquor stores. Following this, the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services issued its own letter supporting the executive order while clarifying that it would focus its enforcement on the identification of “misbranded” products meant to deceive or misrepresent the hemp products.

Though it's a small win for the industrial hemp industry that doesn’t fully reopen the door to intoxicating hemp in the Show-Me State, it does provide a glimpse into how cannabevs can operate in tandem with the dispensary space.

Learn more about hemp’s ongoing battle with marijuana on BevNET.

Suja Organic is debuting a new look with a full line rebrand that aims to better highlight the ingredients and nutrition of its juices.

• According to the company, the rebrand drew from consumer insights that suggested the brand and the broader natural beverage space needed to do more to promote transparency in labeling.
• The updated packaging is also accompanied by a new website, updated messaging and a stronger focus on DTC with a new subscription service.
• The move follows the appointment of former Stone Brewing head Maria Stipp as CEO in February. Stipp took over as Suja’s chief executive from Bob DeBorde who had held the role since 2019.

Plastic K-Cup coffee pods have long been a painful sticking point for sustainability advocates, so much so that their inventor says he regrets ever creating them. But Cambio Roasters, led by former Keurig chief innovation officer Kevin Hartley, is launching a recyclable aluminum coffee pod that it says can alleviate the waste created by plastic pods.

♻️ The environmental issue is no joke. Earlier this month the SEC fined Keurig Dr Pepper for misrepresenting the ability of recycling centers to process its plastic pods (they typically cannot).

🪙 Cambio’s aluminum pods are launching over 1,000 retailers across the country, including Harris Teeter, Giant Martin, Hannaford and Walmart. They are also available online DTC and via Amazon.

☕ Aside from the environmental benefit, Cambio is touting the aluminum pods as superior for coffee quality. Their pods contain organic coffee from small farms and 20% of profits will go to Food 4 Farmers.

😃 What they said: “There's no sense in compromising the quality of the world's best organic coffees, expertly roasted and curated, by placing them in a plastic vessel that's porous. Our landfills are growing at an alarming rate, and the timing is perfect to introduce recyclable aluminum pods.” - Kevin Hartley

Go Deeper: SEC Slaps KDP Over Sustainability Claims

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Another major spirits player has sold off brands to focus on supporting its premium products. This week Edrington, which owns brands such as The Macallan and The Glenrothes, sold off blended scotch whisky brands The Famous Grouse and Naked Malt Scotch Whisky. 

• Scottish spirits company, William Grant & Sons, which owns Tullamore D.E.W., Monkey Shoulder and Hendrick’s Gin, scooped up the scotch whiskies. 
• The move was made to discontinue “lower-value products that are not aligned with the brand’s ultra-premium strategies,” according to a statement. 

🥃 Other spirits groups have done the same: this summer, Pernod-Ricard offloaded its wine portfolio and Diageo sold two brands as they focus on their top-selling categories. Suntory also sold Courvoisier last year to focus on tequila and American and Japanese whiskey.

• Scotch has also not fared well so far this year, the Scotch Whisky Association just released figures for the first half of 2024: exports have fallen 18% by value or $2.76  billion in lost sales.

A massive global conglomerate bets the future on ‘spice,’ only to quickly fail in spectacular fashion. No, it’s not the plot of a new Dune movie – we’re talking about Coca-Cola Spiced, the soda giant’s much-hyped permanent new release from January aimed at capturing the hearts and minds of younger consumers.

❌ According to a CNN report, that dream is already over with Coke confirming the line is being “phased out” to make room for an “exciting new flavor” set to arrive next year.

🔀 When we caught up with Coke at the NACS trade show last year, the company touted Spiced as a permanent sub-line with rotating flavors, starting with Raspberry in February 2024 in both full and Zero Sugar versions. At a time when young consumers have so many other beverage options beyond CSDs, it’s imperative to provide a reason for them to choose Coke, the brand explained.

🔍 While rumors have swirled around a potential acquisition from top soda challengers Olipop and Poppi, Coke has mostly looked inward to stimulate growth in CSDs via its Creations LTO series and expanded Freestyle dispensers.

Over the past several years, the alt-milk market has seen an influx of unique base ingredients spanning chickpeas, rice, hemp and more, but Força Foods is taking it one step further with the launch of MILKish, a product made from watermelon seeds. 

🥛 Available in two flavors – Unsweetened Original and Unsweetened Vanilla – each serving of MILKish has 50 calories, 2 grams of protein and 0 grams of carbs. What’s more, Força Foods claims the product has a water footprint that’s 99% lower than almond milk. 

💻 MILKish is currently available for purchase via the brand’s website for $29.99 per 6-pack of 32 oz. cartons. 

Ready-to-eat meal delivery service Factor is moving into powdered drinks with the launch of its Factor Form supplements business this week, featuring a line of daily greens, protein and hydration mixes available via its online subscription.

🍋 Beyond Daily Greens and the Whey Protein powders, the Factor Form Hydration Boosts come in multiple flavors including Lemon Lime, Orange Yuzu and Passionfruit Guava.

🗣️ What they said: “The supplement market can be overwhelming, which is why we’ve done the research so our customers don’t have to. Our suite of supplements can be taken individually, but also have been designed to work together. And, to cater to consumers' busy lifestyles, we package our supplements in convenient single-serve portions, making it easy to stick to your wellness routine on-the-go!” -  Laura Loughran, Factor Form general manager