Hemp Beverage Operators Are in Fight Mode
“Everybody who came here today, and not giving up and saying that we’re going to continue to fight for this category, thank you, give yourself a round of applause, please,” were the fighting words of Christopher Lackner, President of the Hemp Beverage Alliance (HBA), as he opened the panel discussions for the Hemp Beverage Expo that recently took place in Austin, Texas.
Diana Eberlein, Chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives (CABA), addressed the growing number of legislative proposals under consideration in Congress, noting that the volume of activity only demonstrates both urgency and interest in keeping the category open.
While operators may not see every proposal as a perfect solution, she emphasized that the Coalition’s priority is to continue forging a pathway that allows hemp beverages to operate. Regardless of the outcome of upcoming legislative decisions, she said, the advocacy effort will continue.
As someone spending time in Washington fighting for the sector, she pointed to a continuously growing recognition among lawmakers that hemp beverages are an emerging category that needs a sensible regulatory framework.
Hemp Beverages Present a Unified Front
While critics have pointed to a lack of alignment across the broader hemp industry, panelists argued that the hemp beverage category has taken a more unified approach to advocacy.
Eberlein said that while different segments of the hemp industry may have competing priorities, beverage operators have maintained a consistent position focused on establishing a clear regulatory framework. She noted that the category’s continued focus on sensible regulation, rather than pushing for a specific outcome, has helped build credibility with lawmakers.
Jon Taets, Director of Government Relations at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), added that during conversations on Capitol Hill, he has heard concerns that the broader hemp industry sends mixed messages. However, he said lawmakers have recognized that hemp beverage advocates are approaching the issue with a more organized and consistent position.
The group emphasized that partnerships with established beverage organizations, such as NACS and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), have strengthened the category’s position by connecting hemp beverages to familiar regulatory models, including the alcohol industry’s three-tier distribution system. Panelists said leveraging an established framework could provide a more practical path forward than creating an entirely new system.
Regulation Comes With Operational Requirements
While advocates continue to push for a regulatory pathway similar to that for adult beverages, panelists also acknowledged that moving to a regulated framework would require significant preparation and infrastructure.
During the discussion, an audience member in the alcohol distribution space raised questions about implementation timelines, noting that operating within the adult beverage system would entail additional requirements, including federal permits, compliance reviews, label approvals, and state-level requirements.
Panelists acknowledged that if the federal government moved toward this model, agencies such as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) would need additional resources to support the transition. While the TTB has established systems for alcohol label approvals and compliance oversight, expanding those processes to include hemp beverages would require significant coordination.
Building the Data Foundation for Hemp Beverages
As the hemp beverage category continues to mature, industry groups are also working to build the data infrastructure needed to understand market growth and support future decision-making.
During the panel, Anna Edgren, Director of Operations at the Hemp Beverage Alliance (HBA), announced the release of The Future of Drinking, a new industry report produced in collaboration between HBA and Vermont Information Processing (VIP). The partnership leverages VIP’s established beverage industry data systems, which track distributor-to-retailer sales, to provide a clearer picture of hemp beverage performance.
The report analyzed anonymized data from 26 brands covering 2024 and 2025, representing more than 2.3 million case-equivalent volumes. According to the findings, hemp beverage volume increased 133% year over year, while points of distribution grew 129%, accounts sold increased 72%, and product velocity increased 41%.
The data also showed that hemp beverages are following familiar beverage trends, including seasonal sales patterns similar to alcohol categories. Regional differences highlighted the impact of regulation and retail access, with strong growth in the Midwest, Northeast, and South, while restrictions in California contributed to declines in the West.
Edgren noted that as more brands participate, the industry will continue to develop a more complete view of consumer demand, retail performance, and category growth.
Building Credibility Through Data
While the HBA report provides a snapshot of category growth, VIP emphasized that the larger goal is creating the data infrastructure needed for hemp beverages to operate as a recognized beverage category.
Chris Sineni, Account Executive at Vermont Information Processing (VIP), explained that the company has served as a data provider for the beverage industry since 1972, helping alcohol brands track performance through the three-tier distribution system. The partnership with HBA applies the same data-collection approach to hemp beverages, creating a category-level view that previously did not exist.
According to Sineni, individual brands have historically been able to see their own sales performance, but distributors, retailers, and investors lacked broader insight into how the overall category was performing, including regional growth, retail expansion, and consumer preferences.
The HBA and VIP partnership was designed to close that gap by collecting distributor-to-retailer depletion data, anonymizing and aggregating the information, and creating an independent view of category performance. The resulting dataset is based on actual transactions moving through the three-tier system rather than projections or survey responses.
Sineni emphasized that credible data will become increasingly important as brands compete for distributor partnerships, retail placement, and regulatory recognition. He compared the current stage of hemp beverages to the early craft beer market, where brands often relied on anecdotal evidence before stronger data systems helped validate category growth.
As more brands contribute data, the industry will gain a clearer picture of sales trends, regional performance, and consumer behavior.
Building the Data Foundation for Long-Term Growth
Lester Jones, economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), emphasized that data has historically been a critical foundation for building credibility within established beverage categories.
Drawing comparisons to the beer industry, Jones noted that organizations such as the Beer Institute, Brewers Association, and distilled spirits groups built long-term industry credibility by consistently collecting and reporting market data. That same approach, he said, is now beginning to take shape within hemp beverages.
Jones pointed out that the hemp beverage market has evolved from a fragmented, regionally diverse category into one where clearer leaders are emerging. However, he also noted that current data captures only part of the overall market, with direct-to-consumer and direct-to-retail sales representing additional activity outside traditional distribution channels.
The data demonstrates the category’s economic impact and growth, providing a clearer picture for regulators, retailers, distributors, and investors.
What emerged from the Hemp Beverage Expo was a category in transition — still navigating regulatory uncertainty, but increasingly focused on building the structures needed for its next phase of growth.
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