Welcome Note

Welcome Back Gardeners to the 104th edition of Herbal Profiles!

Happy Friday yall! Got a packed newsletter this week. As always, a roundup of the biggest news in the industry in the last week. This week’s featured story I get into retail storytelling and why as a category (and founders) need to rethink how they go to market - this is all channels. Putting weed in a can isn’t captivating. Consumers don’t give a shit about ingredients. If you don’t have a story to tell, you’re going to lose.

And don’t miss the latest episode of the Free Spirits Podcast. 

Let’s get into it.

-Lars

The subreddit I moderate with Chris Fontes hit 1,400 subscribers! And my other subreddit for the broader CPG industry is also growing, hitting 60 subscribers. I would love to have you join us on either or both subreddits!

The Free Spirits Podcast with David Gonzalez and myself just dropped episode 14 of season 2 with Boston Beer Company’s Head of Cannabis, Paul Weaver.

If you could take the time to drop a review of the podcast or even just share it with a friend or two, it really does help us grow and continue to bring you this show.

You can find us on Youtube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!

Any comments or questions? Leave comment on this post or shoot me an email. Would love to hear from you!

News Roundup

• How Minnesota Became the Gold Standard for Hemp THC Sales

• Buzz Without Booze: Hectare’s Sets Standard for THC Beverages

• Edible Arrangements Is Taking Its THC Delivery Service Nationwide

• Snoop Dogg’s Iconic Tonics and The Butcher’s Daughter Serve Up a Fresh Take on Functional Beverages

• THC Drinks Given Away on Lakefront Prompting New Questions

• Revolution Brewing’s Reverb THC, CBD Drinks Slowing Beer Sales

• Wana Brands Launches Hemp-Derived THC Edibles, Beverages in Georgia

📰 Got news? Submit it here! 📰

Any other questions or inquiries you can respond to this email or DM me on Twitter 

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Founders, Not Features, Are What Consumers Follow

The Era of Novelty Is Over

If you read this newsletter or follow me on social media you may be tired of hearing this from me, but it apparently needs to get repeated often, putting THC in a drink is not a selling point. It is an ingredient. Cookie brands don’t go ‘look we made a baked treat and it has sugar in it! Sugar makes you feel euphoric and then you might get a crash later. But trust us it tastes so good.’ No they tell you a story. One of nostalgia (grandma’s cookies), one of the founder’s story (why do they exist?), ritual creation (with coffee, netflix and cookies, etc). And so on.

Was there a time that worked? Absolutely, but that era is long gone. Consumers have moved on. Yes, there’s still plenty who are shopping purely on price per mg but that’s more indicative of the economy and wanting their vices at a price that fits their budgets. Our category is expensive because it new and full of startups, not huge beverage brands.

With all that said, the brands who are telling a unique story often lose the plot once they reach the shelf. Part of that is the retailers fault, but something brands need to be aware of and deeply obsessed with telling.

The Story Gap at Retail

I speak with many founders, and so many obsess over getting their brand right before they launch. They perfect the logo, the language, the packaging, the positioning. The story feels clear and powerful. But once the product lands on the shelf, that story often disappears. You see the same thing as every other brand. Bogos, coupons, and other TPRs mainly capturing a consumer briefly who is price shopping. Then others use featured displays like online promotions, circulars, etc. Which just puts you with a dozen other brands and doesn’t particularly tell a story. And finally, endcaps which are expensive and short lived velocity spikes. Any brand can do these (and I am not advocating you don’t, simply this shouldn’t be the entire gameplan). The result is a product that looks differentiated in pitch decks but feels interchangeable once it’s in front of shoppers. The retail shelf becomes the end of the story instead of the stage where it should come alive.

Brand operators need to be keeping the story alive inside retail’s rigid walls. One way to to do this is through in-store demos and trainings. I spoke with a founder recently who was talking to me about this pretty openly. As a category (and other functional ingredient brands) we are not allowed from a compliancy standpoint to make claims. But what he told me was how they were running demo programs personally, they shifted the story from product features to lived experience. Instead of “this contains X,” shoppers heard “here’s how it fits into your life” a subtle but powerful way to bridge brand and consumer.

Data is also powerful storytelling. On some level you should be conducting real-world observational and self-reported studies. You can then focus on outcomes like reduced alcohol use, better sleep, and decreased inhalation. These are insights that most competitors could never point to. Turning those results into QR codes on signage, into sales sheets for buyers, and into in-store talking points gave the brand more than novelty to stand on. You also have a powerful marketing tool for social media and advertising as well. It gave retailers a reason to believe, and consumers a reason to pay attention.

The lesson is simple but rarely practiced: retail should amplify narrative, not flatten it. Velocity matters, but velocity without story is just churn. Incrementality comes when brands build activations, experiences, and data into their retail presence so that every can on the shelf carries more than liquid. It carries meaning.

Why Founder Energy Still Matters

As you are well aware if you spend any time in this space, the winds are shifting constantly. Compliance rules change daily & consumer understanding is shallow. This is why founder energy is super critical. They are connective tissue.

A founder can show up in ways a traditional marketing plan cannot. They translate compliance into approachable language, they connect product features to lived occasions, and they embody a mission in a way that resonates with both gatekeepers and end consumers. People don’t buy a drink because it says “CBD,” “THC,” or “functional mushrooms” on the label. They buy it because it feels like part of their Friday night ritual, their recovery routine, or their larger values around wellness.

We’ve seen brands stall when they reduce their pitch to product specs. By contrast, the brands that stand out are led by founders who fold the product into cultural or lifestyle stories:

• Some have paired launches with live events, making the drink part of a shared social moment rather than just another SKU on a shelf.

• Others lean into hybrid formulations, cannabinoids with functional botanicals, for instance to find replaceable moments for consumers.

• Still others use creative, compliance-friendly activations. Educational demos, nutritionist partnerships, or carefully framed digital campaigns.

That’s the pattern: when founder’s lead the charge, the finish line gets moved off the shelf and outside the store.

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How Brands Can Keep Their Story Alive

As we discussed in the open, novelty is dead. You can’t expect consumers to keep showing up just because your drink has cannabinoids, adaptogens, or a splashy flavor drop. The brands that endure understand the balance between velocity and incrementality, and they use storytelling to fuel both.

Velocity is about depth: getting your current fans to buy more, more often. Promotions, pack size extensions, and loyalty programs can drive that, but when those tactics are layered with story, why this brand, why this moment, they build loyalty instead of just discount-driven spikes.

Incrementality is about breadth: bringing new households and new occasions into the fold. This is where founder storytelling makes the difference. Activations like founder-led demos, in-store education programs, or cultural partnerships pull in shoppers who wouldn’t otherwise stop at the set. When that energy is paired with data that proves your product changes behavior, less alcohol, better sleep, new or replaceable occasions, you’re expanding the category.

Every channel becomes part of this equation. If the founder’s voice and the brand’s mission bleed through in each one, storytelling stops being a pre-launch exercise and becomes the lever that drives both velocity and incrementality.

Closing the Gap

The future of NA and THC drinks won’t be decided by features or fleeting novelty. It will be defined by which brands carry their story—consistently, from R&D to retail.

Recent Free Spirits Podcast Episodes ICYMI