Are you participating in a cannabis beverage association?

This post originally appeared on Ben's LinkedIn Newsletter, Infused Insights. You can read and leave comments here.

As the cannabis beverage category continues to grow and becomes more nuanced, it's increasingly important for operators in the space to maintain a unified front for legalization efforts. The beverage category is still a small percentage of cannabis and hemp sales and cannot afford to be fragmented. However, based on time and point of entry with many different beliefs on how to achieve legalization, outright alliances may not always be practical. Nonetheless, aligning on recommended guidelines, potential pathways, and laws is essential to advancing the category and industry.

Joining trade associations and lobbying groups not only helps shape the industry's future and advance legalization efforts, but provide valuable insight into how the category is evolving and can provide incredible networking opportunities that can advance your business. The work done by these associations, acknowledging that effectiveness is always open for debate, is critical so that beverage is not an afterthought in legislative efforts. There are several organizations that cannabis beverage industry players should consider joining, including the Cannabis Beverage Association (CBA), American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) and their Cannabis Beverage Counsel, and the newly formed Hemp Beverage Alliance.

The CBA is a low barrier to entry trade association that is easily accessible and has low membership fees. Initially founded in California where it has successfully lobbied to effect legislative changes germane to the infused beverage category, the CBA is now rapidly expanding into other states and seeking regional leaders to help grow their local markets. The group is committed to developing and promoting the safe, responsible, and innovative production and marketing of cannabis-infused beverages. While originally rooted in regulated cannabis as the name and regional efforts suggest, some members have crossed over into the hemp-derived cannabinoid market. For more information regarding the CBA, please contact President Diana Eberlein.

The ATACH Cannabis Beverage Counsel is a group of influential CEOs and executives that has a significant impact on lobbying, especially at the federal level and with key states progressing through legalization, such as New York and New Jersey. Although membership is more expensive than the CBA, members benefit from powerful industry connections and a more direct voice in shaping the cannabis beverage industry's future. ATACH has been directly responsible for making infused beverage a present consideration for policy makers where it otherwise wouldn't and are attempting to draw consistency in policy across state lines. ATACH is unique in the fact that, as their name states, they are attempting to bridge the conversations of hemp and cannabis. They've historically taken the moral high ground from a legal perspective when navigating this conversation, but this, as you might imagine, has become a very complicated conversation over the past year with the introduction of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids (IHDC). If interested in hearing more, I recommend connecting with President Michael Bronstein.

The Hemp Beverage Alliance is a newly formed group that represents the hemp-derived THC market. Although they do not yet have a dues structure, they're growing rapidly and are showing an expressed interest in securing a permanent place in the mainstream marketplace while building alignment with other organizations and policy makers. For more information regarding the consortium, please reach out to organizer Christopher Lackner.

It's essential to recognize that more-so than other cannabis form factors, the cannabis beverage industry not only encompasses cannabis, hemp, and everything in between, but with brands attempting to navigate multiple channels. The lack of scale and heavy taxation in the regulated cannabis markets have made it incredibly challenging to sell low dose products at a reasonable price point, thus many of the top-selling SKUs are ones that max out the milligram-to-dollar ratio. Conversely, low dose products have become the focal point of the unregulated IHDC market. As cannabis beverage fights for relevance across each supply chain, it's important for operators to participate in organizations that are pushing for a synergistic legalization strategy. By doing so, industry players can attain an understanding of the broader strategy and gain access to vital resources, connections, and information to help shape the industry's future.

As someone who also presides on the board of the National Cannabis Industry Association and is again participating in our annual Lobby Days next week, these are complicated conversations that not everyone will agree on each other's strategies, but I'm a firm believer that through active involvement in the conversations, we can draw alignment with critical intersections that will ensure we're all striving for the same ultimate goal.

Ultimately, all operators in the industry, whether cannabis or hemp, beverage or otherwise, should get involved with one or more associations or organizations and work together to continually push the legalization efforts. I've been amazed at how many conversations I've been able to participate in that are consequential to very real outcomes. By joining these organizations and actively participating in their efforts, we can promote the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis beverage industry and advocate for policy reforms that benefit the broader cannabis community.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions, or if I happened to miss any organizations, please link to them in the comments.

Cheers! -B.