Cannabis drinks have quietly gone from a niche sideline to one of the categories everyone in the industry is watching. The growth numbers vary by source and year — more on that below — but the direction is consistent everywhere you look: major retailers stocking them, dedicated store sections appearing, and a specific, repeatable reason customers reach for one instead of something else.
How big is this, actually?
Depends who you ask and when. An older industry forecast (Global Industry Analysts) projected the global cannabis beverage market growing from roughly $800 million in 2020 to around $2 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate near 17%. A more recent estimate (Future Market Insights) puts last year's THC beverage sales specifically at around $850 million, projected to reach roughly $4 billion by 2028. Different methodologies, different scopes, genuinely different numbers — but both tell the same underlying story of fast, sustained growth. Worth being upfront that most of this data is US-centric (one analysis put the US at roughly 71% of the global market) — South Africa's category is smaller and newer, but the same underlying appeal applies here too.
So why drinks specifically?
The clearest driver is the alcohol-alternative angle. Retail data (Numerator, reported via the NYT) found that during "Dry January" periods, people cutting back on alcohol increasingly reach for a THC drink instead — and that alcohol sales have recovered more slowly after Dry January each of the past few years, which researchers read as a genuine lifestyle shift rather than a one-off. Millennials and Gen Z are the biggest early adopters, and interest is notably rising among women — especially older women — citing growing awareness of alcohol's health downsides. The appeal is specific: a familiar, social, drinkable format, a lower-calorie option than most alcoholic drinks, and no smoke or vapour involved at all.
Where Sodaze fits into this
This isn't an overseas trend we're watching from a distance — it's already on our own menu. Sodaze makes craft cannabis drinks at 30mg per 250ml can, across eight flavours, built exactly around this same drinkable, social, no-smoke appeal.
Sources
General product-education content only — not usage or dosage advice. Market figures cited are third-party industry estimates and vary by source; treat them as directional rather than precise. Effects and onset times vary by person.