As the first annual German beer festival steins are downed there is reason to believe that 2020’s Oktoberfest offerings will come with an added twist.
Canadian cannabis company XPhyto Therapeutics says its German subsidiary has teamed up with a leading German university brewing school, reports Yahoo Finance. The partners say they are looking into the ‘possibilities of CBD-infused beverages in Europe’, with a focus on the ‘development of cannabis-infused fermented beverages’, like different craft beers.
Global Brands Enter Market
This partnership highlights the potential for cannabis-infused drinks which is a market being aggressively pursued by some of the globe’s major brands. These include Constellation which has taken a 37% equity stake in Canadian cannabis firm Canopy, and earlier this year Molson Coors Brewing formed a joint venture with Quebec-based grower Hexo.
XPhyto has big ambitions in Germany and recently secured a 10,000 ft cultivation facility and is looking to develop research and manufacturing facilities. The deal will see Its German subsidiary Bunker Pflanzenextrakte partner with the Technical University of Munich, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan.
It is home to the International Beverage Research Center Weihenstephan, a research and development center capable of handling the entire drink design process chain – from basic molecular biology research through biotechnology processes to the final product.
Bavarian Beer Excellence
Robert Barth, VP European Corporate Development, of XPhyto and Managing Director, Bunker said that given the ‘commercial potential for CBD infused beverages in Europe, XPhyto is very pleased to have secured such a strong development partner right here in Bavaria’.
Cannabis-infused beers are becoming increasingly popular in the brewing industry and the market for non-alcoholic drinks is also blossoming. They have even attracted the attention of global drinks’ giant Coca-Cola, which was in talks with Canadian companies Aphria and Aurora Cannabis last year about a possible partnership.
However it has recently reiterated on numerous occasions ‘that it’s looked at the pot industry, but currently has no intention of seeking a partner or creating its own products’ reports the Motley Fool website.
