Cannabis tea sales rise in US driven by women, says BDS Analytics

BDS Analytics is a data analysis firm based in Boulder, Colorado, which collects point-of-sale transaction data from US cannabis dispensaries tracking 13,000 different strains of cannabis.

While cannabis tea products represented a small portion of the overall $20.09m cannabis beverage market in 2016, it has grown from 2% share of sales in 2016 to 8% in 2017 so far with $358,000 in sales compared to $351,000 for all of 2016, BDS Analytics said.

Calorie-free cannabis tea attracts women​

The cannabis tea sector will continue to expand, with women driving a significant amount of the growth, according to Linda Gilbert, director of BDS Analytics consumer research division.

“I think what cannabis brings to the tea category is variety in terms of flavor profiles, functional benefits, and a medicinal benefit,”​ Gilbert told BeverageDaily.

Women in particular are a key target audience for the category, according to Brown, who sees that leading cannabis tea brands like Colorado-based Stillwater are attracting female consumers through “calorie-free”​ marketing.

“We see a lot of use of cannabis, particularly edibles, for relief of women’s health care issues,”​ Gilbert said.

“And a tea would probably be a very believable delivery system and doesn’t have the same amount of calories as a [cannabis-infused] brownie or cookie.”​

State breakdown​

Oregon registered $13,000 worth of cannabis tea sales in 2016, capturing 1% of state’s $1.47m cannabis beverage market. In the first quarter of 2017, Oregon has already tripled last year sales with $42,000 in purchases.

The cannabis tea trend has also caught on Colorado, where consumers have spent $305,000 on tea products in the first quarter of 2017, up from annual sales of $199,000 for all of 2016, according to BDS Analytics data.

However, the state of Washington saw stagnant growth with $11,000 in cannabis tea sales so far in 2017, accounting for 2% of the state’s overall cannabis beverage market.