• 🆕 This Week’s Hot New Sips
• ❌ N.J. Clamps Down on Hemp 
• ⛈️ Reign Storm Signs Madelyn Cline
• 🍷 DRINKS Debuts Alc-Ecomm Platform
• 🪴 Canna We Get Some Clarification Here? Plus, Hot Products Galore.

There’s been a lot of cannabis beverages news recently (see below for more updates), but within one of the more approachable subcategories there’s an ongoing push to regain momentum lost amidst lack of regulation.

CBD (or cannabidiol) was once seen as the newest innovation in athletic recovery and hydration, but inaction by the FDA and a lack of consumer education on the ingredient have “stunted” the category, according to one observer.

On the one hand, CBD hydration and energy brands like Gym Weed and Adapt SuperWater are reformulating due to the slow churn of a federal regulatory framework. In the case of Gym Weed, it has pivoted away from the active cannabinoid and switched to ashwagandha. Adapt has moved fully into powdered mixes and is in the process of bringing a CBD-free option to open up mass retail distribution.

“I hate to use this pun, but you have to be able to adapt, right?” said Adapt founder Richard Harrington. “The big thing for us is understanding where our market is and where we want to be within sports and where we want to be within retail.”

But there’s also a subset of brands that are not moving away from cannabis’ potential anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties but are tuning into loopholes created by the growing hemp-derived cannabinoid market.

Some CBD sports drinks are trying to reintroduce themselves to fitness-minded consumers by capitalizing on the relative loosening of cannabis prohibition by bringing low-dose, hemp-derived THC into the mix.

Cannabis companies, both in the unregulated hemp-derived market and the regulated, adult-use dispensary channel, are touting the benefits of a full-plant approach to cannabis in sports drinks adding not only microdoses of intoxicating compounds like THC but caffeine, electrolytes and other adaptogens into the formulation to provide a cocktail effect of functionality.

“The reason why we use cannabinoids, and not just CBD, is essentially to mimic the same effects as the runner's high in order to improve mood and be able to enjoy the experience of exercise,” said Tony Fur, co-founder and CEO of Offfield.

For the most part we are still in the early innings of how cannabis can be integrated into the sports and hydration categories, said Ben Larson, CEO of cannabis and hemp infusion technology company Vertosa.

“It's a very niche consumer that understands how THC might be incorporated in their workout routine,” he said.

BevNET Insiders can read the full story to understand where hemp sports beverages are heading.

From s’mores-flavored craft sodas to breakfast food-inspired coffee creamers, the latest edition of BevNET’s weekly New Products Gallery features innovations spanning all sides of the beverage industry. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

🥯 Nestlé-owned Coffee Mate announced the launch of its Bagel & Cream Cheese Inspired Dairy Coffee Creamer. According to the brand, the unique new flavor features “[tasting] notes reflecting cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and a slightly savory hint of bagel in every sip.”

🏕️ Jones Soda sought to capture the essence of America’s favorite campfire dessert with its latest limited-edition flavor, S’Mores. The LTO is currently available for purchase online via the brand’s website for $44.99 per 12-pack of 12 oz. bottles or $84.99 per 24-pack.

🥭 Empyrean Brewing Co. unveiled the second flavor in its Hop Drops sparkling hop water line, Mango. The new zero-sugar, zero-calorie offering is crafted with just three ingredients: carbonated water, Mosaic, El Dorado hops and mango extract.

Check out the full product roundup on BevNET.

BevNET’s annual “Best Of” Awards commend companies, brands, individuals, products, ideas and trends from across the ever-changing beverage industry landscape. The highly-anticipated awards show will take place in Marina del Rey, Calif., during BevNET Live Winter 2024 on December 8-10, 2024.

BevNET’s Best Of 2024 Awards are currently open for nominations and you may submit as many nominations as you’d like, either for your own company/product or a company/product you find deserving. 

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, November 1.

Click here for more information and to submit a nomination.  

Hemp producers from coast-to-coast are wringing their hands over the latest moves to restrict sales of “intoxicating cannabinoids” sold outside of the regulated market. New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy signed into law Senate Bill No. 3235 yesterday which prohibits the sale of products with any detectable levels of THC by anyone other than cannabis businesses licensed by the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).

🏪 In a slightly different approach than California’s recent emergency action, N.J. has left the door ajar for cannabevs to grow outside of the dispensary channel in a limited carveout for beverages to be sold by licensed liquor stores regulated by the New Jersey Alcoholic Beverage Control.

💭 Gov. Murphy expressed concern over this “late amendment” to the bill that have “caused significant confusion” in oversight in a statement saying that he would have “preferred to sign a bill that stopped” at restricting THC to the dispensary channel.

💻 The bill attempts to tamp down on ecommerce sales as well, calling out that the regulation applies “to any online retail sale of an intoxicating hemp product sold in [New Jersey];” yet, the provision does not call out how it will enforce DTC sales.

Monster’s Reign Storm performance energy line, which has been targeted towards female consumers with an eye towards competing more directly with Celsius, has tapped Outer Banks actress Madelyn Cline as the new face of the brand.

🤸 Cline began promoting Reign Storm this week with a media campaign emphasizing health and wellness with a “Live Life Better” message. In a press release, Cline is quoted touting the drinks’ use of Biotin and vitamins.

🔎 Twenty-six-years-old Cline began acting as a child but had a breakout role in 2020 with the Netflix teen drama series Outer Banks, followed by a part in the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion. She has over 16.3 million Instagram followers.

🧘 Monster introduced Reign Storm last year as a subline of its Reign Total Body Fuel brand and has since heavily targeted fitness communities and trends like pickleball, providing a highly differentiated position from the typically aggro-Monster brand identity.

DRINKS, an ecommerce solutions provider for alcohol producers and retailers, is launching its new Drinks as a Service (DaaS) platform, intended to help companies sell and market alcohol online and more easily navigate the “complex tax and compliance impediments” of hard ecommerce.

🤖 DRINKS is billing DaaS as a “complete platform for alcohol sales” that helps sellers with compliance and safety, as well as providing AI insights and data.

🥂 The software also can help retailers create “tailored” selections for their target consumer base and “determine optimal product offerings,” according to a press release.

It’s another drag for canna-brands. The hosts discuss an emergency regulation in California that would remove food and beverage brands containing hemp-derived THC from stores in the state. They also wonder about the runway for a trendy flavor and highlight several new and unusual products.

Listen to the episode now.