Page 63 - The Five Forces of Everything

Anti-Energy Drinks Common as Caffeine

In the U.S., small insurgent brands such as SPRIG and In 2016, ex-Apple marketer,
RECESS have created products that ‘help people feel more Eric Eslao, sought to shake up
balanced in an incredibly stressful world.’ SPRIG sparkling the chocolate category. He
sodas contain 10mg of THC and are only sold to persons over saw chocolate as the perfect
21, while RECESS hopes the category for functional relaxation vehicle for THC and believed
drinks will be bigger than energy drinks in just 10 years’ time. public opinion would change
– to the extent that one day,
Curiously, kings of soft drinks Coca-Cola and Pepsi, have said that they cannabis in chocolate would
have no immediate plans to enter the CBD arena. This probably reflects be as common as caffeine
fears of consumer backlash. Suffice to say, consumer understanding of in beverages. Fast forward
CBD is still forming and there is a lot of misinformation, which could result to 2019, and we can see
in some misguided headlines in the press. the result, DEFONCE. The
company recommends a 10mg
Move Over Alcohol serving size, equivalent to
two squares of chocolate.
In late 2018, drinks giant Constellation Brands invested over $4bn in a “The chocolate is really for the
Canadian cannabis company. This makes a huge statement about the taste experience, and the cannabis kicks in 40 minutes later”. A longer
company’s confidence in CBD infused beers, wines and spirits. Indeed, lasting pleasure if ever there was one.
the company has remarked that ‘the cannabis space is opening up more
rapidly than expected’. It believes that as more regions of the world relax So, what happens next? There is still so much we don’t know about CBD
their regulations, its CBD infused products even at the lower doses found in food, beverages and cosmetics.
will prove to be 100% incremental.
How does CBD interact with other prescription medications? Could it
Meanwhile, Molson Coors is planning for reduce their effectiveness or even interact in a toxic way? Can it really
a ‘meaningful share’ in this future, and help with muscle pain, anxiety or acne as many of its devotees claim?
some industry watchers have suggested
that CBD infused beverages could take Food and drug administration authorities have mixed views on CBD
over from alcohol in the longer term. around the world. In Europe, it’s just been classed as a novel food
- meaning that manufacturers must address several regulatory
Indeed, with the rapid rise of non- hurdles before marketing CBD infused products to the public.
alcoholic options, could combinations
with CBD take things in an entirely new But in a world that is getting more stressed, we believe
direction? that CBD will win through, not least because
many people will want to believe the hype.
Right: ‘Dope then beer, no fear - beer then dope, no hope’.
No worries because now you can do both at the same time!

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FORCE #4 OBSERVATIONS | IMPLICATIONS | ILLUSTRATIONS