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Jones Soda company releases new cannabis infused drinks

You may have seen their bottled sodas at your local grocery store. Now Jones Soda is dipping their feet into legal cannabis with a line of new products.

Mary Jones — the new brand from Jones Soda — will introduce cannabis-infused drinks, gummies and syrups to California consumers on April 1. According to the company’s marketing chief Bohb Blair, the company is hoping their recognizable branding will help them gain a chunk of the cannabis drink marketshare that is increasing constantly.

As a smaller, craft soda company, Jones Soda’s 2021 revenue was only .04% of what Coca-Cola pulled in, at just $14.8 million. However the company is using its smaller size to their advantage.

While larger companies like PepsiCo and Coke are hesitant to enter the cannabis drinks market due to federal legality, Jones is more willing to take the risk.

Blair believes that the company’s brand recognition as a quality, craft soda company will give them the edge over existing soda drinks. The current products on the market, according to Blair, are light on flavor and low on dosage. This leaves the door open for Mary Jones to capitalize.

“Health claims aren’t our equity, full flavor is,” Blair said. “We had some conversations early on: Should we be putting CBD in this? And no, it’s not who we are.”

The initial launch will include four different product lines: 12-ounce bottles of soda infused with 10 milligrams of cannabis; 16-ounce cans of soda infused with 100 milligrams of cannabis; syrup designed to mix with other drinks or on food with 1000 milligrams of cannabis per bottle; and gummies infused with five milligrams of cannabis, shaped like mini Jones Soda bottles.

While they are starting in California dispensaries only, Mary Jones already has plans to expand to every legal state in the country.

“We have been putting all of these pieces in place since we announced our intention to establish a cannabis division last July, and we fully expect the brand to deliver solid strategic growth for the company,” CEO Mark Murray said in a statement.

Because the new line of products will only be sold in dispensaries, Jones Soda isn’t worried about consumers mixing up the labels. To distinguish the new products from their traditional line, the Mary Jones branding is a different design, with THC dosages printed in large font.

As a publicly traded company, it is a bold move for Jones Soda to enter the cannabis-infused products market, However they aren’t the first.

Molson Coors, Anheuser-Busch and Boston Beer — the maker of Samuel Adams — have all started their foray into the legal cannabis industry. However there haven’t been any well-known soda companies that made the move, until now.

While still small and lesser known than the big names, Jones Soda has a name that is recognizable on grocery store shelves. As long as Mary Jones can utilize that recognition on dispensary shelves, the new line of products will likely bring a fresh take on cannabis-infused drinks to the market.