Through the first half of this year, the beverage category was the seventh highest-grossing category in the Canadian cannabis market with a 2.1% market share.
When comparing January through June 2021 vs 2022, the beverage category was the fourth fastest growing category in Canada with + 67% year-over-year sales growth. This category only grew slower than concentrates (+69%), pre-rolls (+70%), and edibles (+76%).
| Segment | Share of Sales |
| Carbonated | 52% |
| Iced Tea, Lemonade, and Fruit | 20% |
| Water | 19% |
| Tea, Coffee and Hot Cocoa | 4% |
| Drops, Mixes, Elixirs, and Syrups | 2% |
| Sports and Energy | 2% |
As shown in the table, the Carbonated segment makes up more than half of total beverage sales. The Iced Tea, Lemonade, and Fruit and Water segments are the next two most significant segments both with roughly 20% of sales. The bottom three segments combined only represent 8% of all Canadian beverage sales. This is a similar breakdown to most US cannabis markets where the carbonated segment is also dominant.
Demographic and Differences
(Data is from AB and ON only)
Female customers have a significantly higher relative spend to the beverage category at 2.5% than male customers (2.0%).
| Generation | Beverage Wallet Share |
| Gen X | 2.6% |
| Millennials | 2.4% |
| Baby Boomers | 1.9% |
| Gen Z | 1.4% |
Gen X spends the most on beverages followed closely by millennials. Gen Z customers choose beverages far less often, with a wallet share of only 1.4%.
| Demographic Group | Beverage Wallet Share |
| Female – Generation X | 3.0% |
| Female – millennials | 2.8% |
| Male – Generation X | 2.4% |
| Male – millennials | 2.2% |
| Male – baby boomers | 1.9% |
| Female – baby boomers | 1.9% |
| Female – Generation Z | 1.6% |
| Male – Generation Z | 1.2% |
When combining age and gender into more granular demographic groups sales show that female Gen X customers are the biggest fans of beverages with a wallet share of 3.0%, nearly three times greater than the wallet share of male Gen Z customers.
Pricing Insights
The average item price of a Canadian beverage product was $6.82 in June 2022, only 1% lower than in June 2021 ($6.90).
However, the average EQ price of beverages (aka the average price per milligram of THC in all beverage products) dropped by more than 20% over the same time period from $1.06 last year to $0.85 in June 2022. This indicates that customers are gravitating towards products that offer higher THC content for a similar total price.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, data from Headset is sourced from AB, BC, ON, SK and the time frame is January through June 2022.