The market for marijuana-infused beverages could explode to $600 million in the next four years

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

• The market for marijuana-infused beverages could hit $600 million in the US by 2022.
• CBD beverages alone could hit $260 million, with the remainder coming from THC-infused beverages.
• Big beverage makers have already taken notice and some are actively pursuing deals to capture the market.

Marijuana-infused beverages could become a $600 million market in the US in the next four years, according to a note from Canaccord Genuity, and big beverage makers are looking to take advantage of that opportunity.

Revenue from cannabis beverages could outpace the general demand for cannabis products by over two times, capturing 20% of the market for marijuana edibles by 2022, according to the analysts.

Canaccord estimates CBD beverages will become a $260 million market by 2022, and THC-infused beverages a $340 million market.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana that's thought to have therapeutic benefits. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the compound responsible for the high associated with ingesting marijuana.

"While these trends represent a significant opportunity for US cannabis companies, they have not gone unnoticed by large mainstream beverage players looking to inject growth into their product portfolio," Canaccord's Bobby Burleson and Jonathan DeCourcey wrote.

CBD beverages could be part of the rising trend in wellness beverages, the analysts said.

On top of that, legal marijuana could soon become a bigger industry than soda. It has already started putting pressure on alcohol sales, according to the investment bank Cowen. If marijuana is made legal nationwide in the US by 2030, the legal weed industry could generate $75 billion in sales by that year.

Large beverage makers are already pushing into the emerging sector.

Coca-Cola is reportedly eyeing a deal to produce CBD-infused beverages. In August, Constellation Brands - the beermaker behind Corona and Modelo - paid $4 billion for a 38% stake in the Canadian cultivator Canopy Growth.

Lagunitas, Heineken's popular California-based brand, recently developed a hoppy, THC-infused sparkling water. Molson Coors recently entered a joint venture with Hexo, a publicly-traded cultivator, to produce marijuana-infused beer for the Canadian market, among other deals.

Read more of our cannabis industry coverage:

• Hedge fund legend Leon Cooperman is investing in the marijuana industry - and it's another sign the sector is heating up
• Famous short seller Andrew Left is creating a cannabis fund. He explains why the market's not in a bubble, but does need to 'chill out'
• One of the world's largest beer makers is about to start producing marijuana-infused drinks
• 'These things rarely happen in someone's career': Activist investor thinks a marijuana cultivator's stock is wildly undervalued
• The rising stars of marijuana's investment scene that everyone from Wall Street to Silicon Valley should know