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Cheers to cannabis: Big alcohol stakes a claim in the legal marijuana boom

Major beer companies are developing cannabis-infused beverages to tap into the nascent yet lucrative weed industry.

Major beer companies are investing big bucks to develop cannabis-infused drinks.
Major beer companies are investing big bucks to develop cannabis-infused drinks.

Big alcohol wants in on the budding cannabis market. Major beer companies are investing big bucks to develop cannabis-infused drinks that will pave the way for them to cash in on the legal marijuana boom.

A new study from Grand View Research finds the global legal marijuana market is expected to reach $66.3 billion by 2025 and increase at a compound annual growth rate of 23.9 percent during the forecast period. Global sales of cannabis-infused drinks will surpass $200 million in 2019, according a recent report from Fact.MR. Canada and 30 states have legalized marijuana. In addition, marijuana is legal in several other countries, including Germany, Australia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Israel.

Given the lucrative outlook for cannabis, it’s no wonder major beer companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the nascent weed industry to create cannabis-infused drinks. Constellation Brands, the maker of Corona and Modelo, was one of the first to take the plunge. In 2017, the company purchased a 10 percent stake in Canopy Growth, a Canadian-based maker of recreational and medical marijuana products, for $190 million. Constellation Brands has since invested another $4 billion in Canopy, taking a 35 percent interest in the company.

In December 2018, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, teamed up with Canadian pot producer Tilray Inc. in a $100 million joint venture to research nonalcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages. Each invested $50 million toward the venture to explore drinks that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of cannabis that gets marijuana users high, and cannabidiol (CBD), the nonpsychoactive component of cannabis designed for therapeutic effects that does not cause intoxication.

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