Legal cannabis provides a valuable opportunity to reshape the consumer beverage industry, according to Cannabiz Consumer Group.

Beverages generate nearly $1.5 trillion annually for the US economy.

Even though cannabis-infused drinks make up less than 20% of cannabis products sold in adult-use cannabis markets and account for an even smaller percentage of total sales dollars, the format is predicted to grow.

“Although most believe that the alcoholic beverage industry will lead the charge into the cannabis beverage space, our opinion is that the ultimate winners will be the non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers” said Rick Maturo, Chief Product Officer at C2G.

Here are the reasons why:

First, by entering the THC-infused beverage marketplace, today’s non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers can begin to offer products to compete against the untapped $200B alcoholic beverage industry.

Second, many of non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers have already been broadening their portfolios to take advantage of the consumer trend toward alternative drinks, like energy drinks or shots, kombucha, and other enhanced juice drinks

Third, higher margins mean higher profits. Cannabis-infused beverages are offered at a premium when compared to other alcoholic and non-alcoholic segments.

See the original article at MJNews