New beverage categories are emerging in the social lubricants sector, competing with traditional craft beer. THC-infused drinks (including THC-infused NA beers and seltzers) are on the rise. In fact, DeltaBev, which is an enormous cannabis beverage manufacturing facility, commenced operations last month with the CANN brand of micro-dosed THC tonics. Located in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the 45,000-sq-ft facility is being hailed as “the world’s largest cannabis beverage manufacturing plant in terms of capacity,” according to the press release, boasting state-of-the-art processing and packaging capabilities across canning, bottling and “mini” production lines.
DeltaBev prioritizes THC potency preservation at all stages with reverse osmosis water filtration, water de-aeration, advanced mixing technologies, inline emulsion injection, CO2 purging and counter pressure filling. Distinguishing itself from most other cannabis beverage co-manufacturers, DeltaBev extends standard procurement services to all customers. By leveraging its purchasing power to enhance customer margins, DeltaBev aims to foster more competitive retail pricing, ultimately making the cannabis beverage category more accessible to consumers.
As part of the vertically integrated Blaze Life Holdings (BLH), the facility’s production capabilities extend to seamless distribution with co-located SuLo Distro, a full-service cannabis distributor covering California. BLH’s continued focus is optimizing its vertical integration structure to drive streamlined efficiencies in developing, producing, and distributing cannabis beverages.
“By streamlining our operations and eliminating unnecessary complexity, we are enabling downstream profitability and accelerating time to market, delivering fresher products to consumers faster,” said Shreyas Balakrishnan, CEO of BLH.
BLH’s commitment to supply chain optimization is why Mary Jones Soda chose the company to co-manufacture and distribute its beverages.
” We are excited about our next phase of growth in California and partnering with both DeltaBev and SuLo Distro. The Canoga Park facility accelerates our innovation into more beverage options as well as gummies and shots. The SuLo distribution capabilities will also ramp our go-to-market strategy as we expand our footprint into more California Dispensaries,” said David Knight, CEO of Mary Jones.
Seattle-based Jones Soda was one of the first mainstream CPG brands to enter California’s recreational cannabis market through its subsidiary, Mary Jones. Since its launch in 2022, Mary Jones has witnessed impressive sales growth of over 500% and has become the fifth-largest cannabis beverage brand in California.
In addition to Mary Jones, DeltaBev customers include CANN, Sip Elixirs, CQ, Nevis Brands, Tinley’s, award-winning Bodega Coolers, and Cheeche’lada, a cannabis-infused Michelada released in partnership with cannabis legend Cheech Marin.
The company’s strategic investment in the supply chain uniquely positions it for distribution to other states. Alongside continued momentum for further regulatory changes and the DEA’s anticipated rescheduling of cannabis, interstate cannabis commerce is becoming more of an imminent reality.
“The cannabis beverage category is far from its tipping point, and we understand the power of full-scale efficiencies within the beverage distribution supply chain. While we cannot speculate exactly when regulations will be lifted, we are prepared for when they are,” said Shreyas Balakrishnan, CEO of BLH.
Blaze Life Holdings (BLH) was founded in 2017 by two cannabis visionaries: Los Angeles real estate investor Scott Kim and Paul Burgis, former COO and CFO of Los Angeles-based Golden Road Brewing, which was acquired by Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev in 2015. The duo saw an opportunity for a vertically integrated cannabis business that operationally parallels the craft brewing industry, adapted to drive efficiency and growth in a rapidly growing cannabis beverage industry.
The BLH group comprises ILLA Canna (cultivation facility, branded products, and retail), SuLo Distro (full-service cannabis distributor with beverage capabilities), and DeltaBev (cannabis manufacturing), focused on providing clear and simple co-packing solutions for cannabis brands with a focus on beverages. BLH is helmed by professionals with a combined 80 years of experience in beer and beverage production, distribution, and commercial execution, aligned to bring end-to-end solutions to brands and retailers to increase share and drive category growth.
To learn more about DeltaBev’s capabilities and services, visit www.deltabev.com
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