Canada: Boston Beer starts to develop cannabis beverages

The Boston Beer Company, one of the leading craft breweries in the United States, today announced that it is establishing a subsidiary to serve as a dedicated research and innovation hub in Canada focused on non-alcoholic cannabis beverages. Boston Beer, the maker that is known for its alcohol brands such as Samuel Adams, Truly Hard Seltzer, Twisted Tea,Angry Orchard Hard Cider and Dogfish Head Brewery hopes to gain a foothold in this emerging space.

It follows the example of other leading U.S. breweries such as Constellation Brands (inside.beer, 30.10.2017, inside.beer, 15.8.2018), Molson Coors Beverage Company (inside.beer, 2.8.2018, inside.beer 27.8.2020, inside.beer, 23.4.2021,) and AB InBev (inside.beer, 16.12.2020). However, while the others bought stakes in leading cannabis companies, Boston Beer is going the hard way by starting from scratch.

"Our mission since day one has been to offer drinkers the highest quality, best tasting products, and they continue to seek new options," says Dave Burwick, Boston Beer CEO. "Innovation is core to what we do, beginning with craft beer, then hard cider, hard iced tea, and now Truly Hard Seltzer. We believe non-alcoholic cannabis beverages could represent a new frontier of innovation and want to be ready for future opportunities in the US."

Boston Beer has hired industry veteran Paul Weaver to lead a new cannabis beverage research hub in the federally regulated market of Canada. Weaver worked nearly seven years as innovation manager at Molson Coors Beverage Company in Canada before holding a similar role for nearly three years at Canopy Growth, a cannabis company in which Constellation Brands holds a 38% stake since 2018. (inside.beer, 15.8.2018) Weaver’s task is to develop and pilot unique cannabis beverages while cannabis regulations continue to evolve in the United States and worldwide.

"Boston Beer's reputation for quality is unrivaled, and the same sensibilities that drive development in beer ring true in cannabis beverages. Quality ingredients and craftsmanship make quality products, and our success begins with respecting the plant and respecting the growers," said Paul Weaver, Director, Head of Cannabis.

"This is just the beginning of our journey and, like any craft, requires a continuous commitment to learning. We know cannabis is new for many of our drinkers and they deserve the best, which is why we're taking the time to do this right," shared Weaver.

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