KND Labs has recently released a strategic partnership with Batory Foods, a national sales and supply chain management solutions provider offering a full portfolio of high-quality food ingredients to food, beverage and nutraceutical manufacturers throughout the United States. With this exciting news in the headlines, we wanted to take a closer look at the explosive growth in the CBD food and beverage sector. You can check out that release by clicking here. For an in depth review of the CBD Beverage market, keep reading!
It’s no secret that CBD is a big business. The industry in the US is currently valued at around $33 billion, and could reach as high as $100 billion by 2030 by some projections. As it grows, products featuring the extract cannabidiol (CBD) are exploding as well, leveraging CBD’s relaxing and non-inhibitory nature to appeal to markets that might be hesitant to try traditional THC-driven products. CBD is already available in hand soaps and lotions, edibles, oral sprays, gummies, capsules, tinctures, oils—even our pets have their own lines of CBD products designed to relieve pain, ease anxiety, and just generally help them relax.
It was a foregone conclusion that edible and drinkable CBD products would emerge, but the growth these industries are seeing is staggering. The CBD beverage market was valued at approximately $37 million in 2020, and could reach $643.9 million by 2026, representing an obscene 61.1% CAGR over those four years. Considering all the still-murky legal restrictions surrounding products in the United States and across the world, this growth is even more remarkable, but it also provides opportunities for new and burgeoning companies who are trying to expand into this space.
Still, there are a few questions that surround the industry. What’s fueling this degree of growth? Is it sustainable?
We’ll explore all these questions below.
WHAT IS FUELING THIS GROWTH?
Products For Everyone
If there’s one thing that CBD is, it’s versatile. Because of that, companies have already displayed an impressive amount of ingenuity in what kinds of products they can provide their consumers. No matter who you are, there’s a CBD-infused beverage product for you.
Water, flavoured water, wine, beer, seltzers, coffee, tea, juice, health shots, hemp-based sodas, sparkling tonics, dissolvable packets, and water-soluble tinctures are already available from a myriad of companies.. This level of product availability means that there truly is something for everyone, as companies try to capitalize on the wide-ranging available audiences for the products. For companies that are trying to break into the CBD beverage market, there’s both competition and opportunity. There has never been a better time to identify and occupy a niche for your product.
Expanding Legalization
National legalization of products might be a far-off dream in the US right now, but as they become increasingly decriminalized or outright legalized state-by-state, new markets emerge for CBD consumer goods companies. What’s interesting is that this means that there’s a level of parity for small and large companies looking to establish a foothold in newly established markets.
Growing Popularity of CBD Products
Exposure means everything for companies in the space. In the US especially, products were demonized for so long that there is still a great deal of negative stigma to overcome. As products become more common, particularly in states where they’ve been legalized, that stigma decreases—in fact, in states where products have been legalized, studies have shown that its use has risen by approximately 20%. There are untapped markets that are craving access to CBD products.
Increasing Demand for Alcohol-Alternatives
CBD beverages provide another alternative—for people who want to feel relaxed, but don’t want to be inhibited. As more and more people become health conscious, having an increased access to alcohol-alternatives may help continue fuelling growth in the CBD beverage industry.
Partnerships With Major Beverage Companies
While it may not have been one of the biggest drivers of the CBD beverage market’s explosive growth so far, major companies like Molson-Coors, Coca-Cola, and Constellation Brands are all either acquiring or partnering with big-name industry companies to create CBD- and THC-infused beverage lines. Breweries, wineries, and distillers are all clamouring to get a share of the CBD beverage market and establish their own competitive brands
The other thing that these partnerships and acquisitions can mean is stability and increased resources for CBD companies. Constellation invested $5 billion into Canadian company Canopy Growth in 2018 to help finance their lines of CBD beverages, so aggressive moves are being made to help secure market positioning.
IS THIS GROWTH SUSTAINABLE?
The short answer is: at least for now. As long as there’s a demand for these products, companies will continue to emerge and grow to fill niche markets that have specific needs and wants. The versatility of CBD as an ingredient helps ensure that there are companies out there that can capitalize on the wide reach of the market. Looking for an all-natural CBD beverage? How about a gluten-and-sugar-free one? One that’s additive-free? Carbonated? Non-carbonated? There are options available across the spectrum to satisfy consumers’ individual needs.
As the legalization of products in the US continues to change slowly and on a state-by-state level, the legislative headaches surrounding mass-marketing products provides opportunities for smaller, local companies to capture market shares in an industry that might otherwise be dominated by a handful of massive multinational corporations in the same way that the alcohol market is.