A new movement from Constellation Brands, the group responsible for Corona or Modelo beer, brings the beer and marijuana industries closer together.
About 5 billion dollars are the ones invested by the group based in New York in the company Canopy Growth, the largest producer of medicinal cannabis in Canada.
Rob Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands, said: “Over the last year, we have come to better understand the cannabis market, the tremendous growth opportunity it presents and the leading capabilities of the Canopy market in this space,” he added. that “we hope to be able to support Canopy so that it extends its recognized position of world leadership in the medicinal and recreational cannabis space”.
After a series of delays in its implementation, the recently approved cannabis law in Canada will finally become effective on October 17, a situation that is stimulating investments in a potentially lucrative market.
Dooma Wendschuh, CEO of Province Brands, a Toronto company that is developing a brew made from cannabis, told the Canadian radio talk show CBC Radio that it is “two of the largest substances known to man, beer and cannabis, in the same glass. Cannabis and hops are closely related. Both belong to the family of cannabáceas, which is a family of plants. It’s natural when we’re talking about making a cannabis drink, that beer is the first thing that comes to mind. ”
Although jealous of Constellation Brands’ investment in Canopy Growth, Wendschuh acknowledges that “it is a fantastic move for our industry and has also helped our small Province Brands company a lot.”
Alcohol or cannabis? Two markets that affect each other
The investments made by the alcohol industry in cannabis are not solely the result of its desire to open new markets, but a calculated self-protection movement given the evidence that the release of cannabis negatively affects the alcoholic beverages industry.
That is, In those places where medical or recreational cannabis is legal, there has been a reduction in the sale and consumption of alcohol. It seems that both substances are, globally, strong substitutes, hence the alcohol industry is becoming so interested in cannabis.
On the other hand, regulatory mechanisms limiting the market for cannabis drinks are beginning to appear in some places, such as in California, where the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has stipulated a ban on beverages containing both alcohol and cannabis at the same time. , even in the case of CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabinoid, so alcoholic beverages infused or made with cannabis will not be available in this state.
The beer market made with cannabis is still to be exploited. Most producers resort to the infusion of cannabis oils in beer without alcohol, while others, like Province Brands, opt for other techniques. According to Wendschuh, his company has developed a patent-pending technology to brew beer directly from the cannabis plant.
