Veryvell, the line of CBD beverages and drops from Truss CBD USA, the joint venture backed by Molson Coors and Canadian cannabis company HEXO, will roll out to on- and off-premise retailers throughout Colorado.
“Expanding territory and expanding the portfolio is signaling success and we’re really excited about it,” Truss CBD USA general manager Jane Armstrong Hockman told Brewbound.
The announcement comes on the heels of HEXO unveiling plans for a new plant in Fort Collins, Colorado, that will support the Truss brand and other partnered products for sale in the U.S. Truss CBD USA partnered with Coors Distributing Company for distribution in the Denver market, and will join the Molson Coors network for expansion statewide in Colorado.
“We have a small sales team that supports, but the majority of it is going through the distribution network,” Armstrong Hockman said. “Then our sales team is there to support the distributors.”
Truss CBD USA introduced Veryvell ready-to-drink beverages in January. The sparkling waters are infused with 20 milligrams of CBD and are available in three flavors for three intended mood states after consumption (Grapefruit Tarragon — focus; Strawberry Hibiscus — mind & body; Blueberry Lavender — unwind). In addition to ready-to-drink cans, Veryvell also launched Beverage Drops in May, bottles of unflavored CBD that dispense 5 milligram drops with the same intended mood states as the canned offerings.
The following is a conversation with Armstrong Hockman about Veryvell’s expansion and Truss CBD USA’s goals. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
On the RTD offerings: “We launched with three ready-to-drinks, which are Focus, Mind and Body, and Unwind. Those are CBD and adaptogen drinks. There’s a flavor for every mood; the adaptogens give consumers a reason to work the beverages into their daily health and wellness rituals and routines.”
On the Beverage Drops: “We found that consumers were looking for something that they could play around with. There was a big push to non-alc mixology and mocktails coming in, so we developed a beverage drop that’s unflavored.
“It’s the three same SKUs as the RTD so the same use occasions — they’re Focus, Mind and Body, and Unwind — but what they do is give the consumer the ability to make any beverage a CBD beverage. You can add them to your coffee in the morning; you can add them to your sparkling water in the afternoon; you can make a fun mocktail at night, or add it to your evening tea. You can put Veryvell on anything that you’re already drinking, so both serve a different purpose, and we’re getting great feedback on both.”
On expansion: “We’re always looking at different states and expansion states and talking to our networks there. Of course, if we expand outside of Colorado, we’ll make sure that we’re going into well-defined, well-regulated markets as well. So yes, continuing to look at that and when the time is right, and we find those well regulated markets, absolutely.”
On who Veryvell’s target consumers are: “In the CBD category, everyone is a consumer, so it’s not as specific as some other beverages. People are using CBD for different reasons and liking the taste, so the consumer is a variety of 20-somethings all the way up to retirees using the product. And I think that’s one really interesting thing about Veryvell, because we have the adaptogen combinations, while people pick it for the delicious flavor, they’re also picking it based on those combinations and how they want to use it in their day-to-day life. That changes who the consumer is and how they’re interacting with the brand.
“It’s definitely a brand that’s made for that self-care moment, so people use it depending on what they need for self-care and how they define self-care for themselves.”
On CBD consumer demographics: “The category as a whole looks like it is skewing female. Getting in and talking to consumers, that’s not necessarily true. We get a pretty good split between males and females, and we get a split between age ranges, so it’s really an interesting conversation to have and have such a wide consumer base interested in the product.”
On how Truss CBD USA is bringing the products to market: “Right now, strategically, ready-to-drinks are all in retail on shelf. The drops right now are only direct-to-consumer so they’re available online and that gives us the ability to show consumers how to use them, to talk to consumers directly. They can see it, they can read it and they can reach out to us directly with questions. You also see in social we’re sharing different recipes for mocktails, and we’re starting to get into more on-premise accounts where baristas and bartenders are playing with both the Veryvell RTDs and the drops to make their own mocktails, which is really exciting.”
On how Veryvell activates in the on-premise channel: “Everyone from baristas to bartenders are playing with these. People are putting the drops in different coffees and making interesting coffee drinks. In the afternoon, we see the drops in slushes now, so people are putting Unwind into a blueberry lavender and lemon slush, which is really neat for a patio occasion. And at night, you’ll even see people make non-alcoholic old fashioneds and play around with the drops so there’s lots of different variety coming into play there.”
On selecting retail partners: “As we move into retail and move into shelves, we’re mainly in independent liquor stores right now. … We’re starting to shift to those on-premise accounts as people are going out and looking for those mocktails and things, but we’ve primarily started focusing on those independent retailers. That excitement about the category — the incrementality of it, consumers coming in looking for it — has been really powerful. That’s a big reason that we’re leaning into this expansion, both portfolio and across the state.”
On consumer feedback: “People are excited that we didn’t cover it with a bunch of junk. We really leaned into the taste of CBD — we didn’t put sugar over top, we didn’t try to hide it. We kept that taste there, so you get this great kind of herbal botanical flavor and then a fruit flavor on the back end. We’re getting really good feedback about that. People like that there’s no sugar, no carbs, no calories and you just get that health and wellness moment of refreshment.”
On having two parent companies: “It’s working really, really well. We have two great ownership parents, Molson Coors, who brings the specialty in beverages, so a wonderful beverage specialist known for quality and consistency, which people like in the CBD space and are wanting a player that they can trust. We always say ‘Trust in Truss, the beverage specialist,’ and that is in part because we’re backed by Molson Coors and following the same standards in the industry that Molson Coors follows.
“And then our other ownership partner, HEXO, is known on the cannabis side so that comes with a wealth of education and also that quality stamp. You recently saw on the news that they’re opening a facility in Colorado, in part to support the Truss business. Our relationship with both of those partners gives us a specialization that we are very, very proud of.”