As the federal prohibition against marijuana slowly winds down, the alcohol and beverage markets are undergoing a generational shift. At the same time, a consumer shift to Millennial and Gen-Z wallets looking for more adventurous drinks are projected to create a $1.6 trillion non-alcoholic global beverage market by 2025. North America is estimated to be the second largest market worldwide. 

Old school hard alcohol and national beer brands are seeing a move to hard seltzer, pre-mixed and packaged hard alcohol and non-alcoholic “functional” drinks, think “activity” based drinking, sport, health and supplement drinks. These trends cross gender barriers and generational cohorts to create new market segments in an evolving beverage industry. 

While hard seltzer solidifies its position in the alcohol market, significant opportunities exist for non-alcoholic drinks including nootropics (added supplements with claimed memory, health or other benefits), kombucha (digestive benefits), CBD and THC beverages. 

Consumers are also reducing overall alcohol consumption due to health concerns (low calorie, low/no alcohol and low sugar). When drinking, they are buying ready to drink (RTD) cocktails, craft beer, and new health and novelty drinks. In essence, consumer sentiment favors premium quality and flavor while striking a balance between health and alcohol when engaging socially. 

This is where Shimmer Seltzer fits in perfectly as a CBD seltzer using premium ingredients, including full spectrum CBD. Our seltzer is non-alcoholic, low to no calories and sugar, and designed with mixology in mind. Seltzer as a category includes new CBD offerings sold in states where laws allow. CBD beverages offer another, more social option for the canna-curious consumer. Sales of CBD as a category in the U.S. could reach $20B by 2024. As of August 2019 approximately 14% of Americans use products containing cannabidiol according to a Gallup Poll. 

When we look forward five years we expect new and existing companies to have established themselves in these new markets. A market growing in multiple ways and one we see creating new consumer relationships based on trust, environmental and social alignments.