What you need to know
Channels for food and beverage with cannabis as an added ingredient have opened doors that the quintessential “special” brownie never dreamed of, but legal restrictions still constrain how high edibles and drinkables can fly. On-premise options are limited, and distribution is still intra-state only; but creative chefs and entrepreneurs have found ways to engage consumers interested in edible and drinkable cannabis while complying with federal and local restriction because the demand is there. Ultimately, consumers show interest in food and beverage with cannabis as an ingredient; brands must consider how to build trust and balance efficacious dosing with a delicious product.
Definition
This Report provides a general overview of the use of cannabis as an ingredient in food and beverage categories including consumer packaged goods and foodservice. Through this exploration this Report discovers what cannabis consumers want and why, to guide brands across categories in their engagement with the recreational user and cannabis use occasions. While this Report is focused on marijuana/cannabis use, it does include data and references to other members of the cannabis plant family.
Consumer data for this report only includes consumers 22+ from states where cannabis is recreationally legal.
The Report does not closely track sales of brands in the cannabis market; rather, it examines what market activity means for cannabis and non-cannabis brands that are interested in how cannabis may be used in food or beverage or in adjacent categories.
Recreational/adult-use states in included in this report overall: Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
Recreational/adult-use states included in the consumer survey: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Edibles: foods with cannabis as an added ingredient
Drinkables: beverages with food as an added ingredient
