Molson Coors and HEXO enter expanded partnership in Colorado

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The new agreement will build upon the companies’ CBD beverage initiatives

Several global beverage companies have made their way into the cannabis market, and the industry is going to be worth as much as $30 billion in just a few years. Molson Coors Beverage Company has been working the cannabis brand HEXO Corp. to launch cannabis beverage products, and is now partnering up with the company to expand its goals in Colorado, this time focused solely on hemp-based drinks. This joint venture has the goal of creating a line of non-alcoholic hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) beverages to be distributed in the Centennial state. This new venture will have its operations in Colorado, and the majority of the company will be owned by Molson Coors, which will be operating an individual entity that has its own board of directors, management team, resources and marketing strategy.

“We chose Colorado because of its established regulatory framework for CBD and we plan to approach any opportunities in full alignment with our commitment to commercial responsibility, transparency and compliance,” said Molson Coors president of emerging growth Pete Marino. “CBD beverages are a growing segment within the non-alcohol beverage category and this JV provides us an opportunity to build capabilities in Colorado.”

These two companies already have a successful partnership in Canada that is not expanding to Colorado. All production and distribution will be kept within the state lines since not many states have a regulatory framework for hemp-derived CBD edibles. Molson Coors wants to go beyond the brewery market that has them working in different projects such as wine and spirits and non-alcohol drinks. This new venture takes the company one step further in increasing its portfolio.

“Molson Coors and HEXO have already built a great partnership in Canada that we believe will produce some of the best adult non-alcohol beverage brands in the Canadian market,” added Sebastien St-Louis, CEO and co-founder of HEXO. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to bring those learnings to Colorado, under the leadership of Molson Coors, Powered by HEXO.”