California-based JuneShine Brands has spent the last seven years expanding its bev-alc portfolio from only hard kombucha, to now spirits-based canned cocktails, an American light lager and flavored malt beverages (FMBs).
But the company’s fastest-growing new product to date doesn’t contain any alcohol. It’s a THC-infused beverage with the name of a well-known, long-time cannabis enthusiast attached.
In March, JuneShine launched Willie’s Remedy+, a joint venture with Willie Nelson, his family and wellness enterprise Longplay, Inc, with JuneShine providing sales and marketing for the JV. The first product was a hemp-based THC-infused “social tonic” available in multi-serve 750 mL bottles, shipped direct-to-consumer (DTC) in 35 states. Within the first month, bottles had sold out and JuneShine was scrambling to get more supply, and sales have continued to grow, tripling in April and again in May, according to the company.
“It’s been crazy,” JuneShine co-founder and chief creative officer Forrest Dein told Brewbound. “It’s definitely the fastest-growing thing we’ve ever launched at JuneShine Brands.
“It’s a testament to this category [and] obviously to Willie Nelson,” he continued. “And then being able to launch direct-to-consumer, it also takes down a lot of barriers that you normally have launching new products.”
JuneShine announced an expansion of the brand last week with the addition of THC-infused seltzers in three flavors: Black Cherry Lime, Strawberry Watermelon and Passionfruit Orange Guava. The seltzers contain 5 mg of THC, 2 mg of CBD, 2 mg of CBG and 200 mg of l-theanine per 12 oz. can. Consumers can purchase a minimum of three single-flavor 4-packs DTC for $80.
With the new seltzers, JuneShine also announced the expansion of Willie’s Remedy+ into retail. The seltzers are available on shelves in Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and Texas, with Florida, Georgia and Illinois rolling out later this summer.
Additionally, Willie’s Remedy+ bottles are now available at Total Wine & More stores in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
The “long-term vision” for Willie’s Remedy+ is to grow it at retail, but DTC has allowed the brand to get a leg up in its early connections with consumers, Dein said.
“it’s so hard to measure your advertising dollars and your marketing ROI through retail – there’s just you don’t have a direct relationship with that customer,” Dein said.
“Us being able to own the relationship with the customer and email them and have a direct channel makes it so much easier for us to launch and be profitable,” he continued. “We’ve been profitable since Day One with Willie’s because of direct-to-consumer. You’d never be able to do that with retail.”
JuneShine is distributing Willie’s Remedy+ through beer wholesalers, staying within its existing network wherever possible. The company is planning to expand the brand’s retail presence into 20 states by the end of the year.
While the bottled products are in more states at the moment, JuneShine sees cans becoming Willie’s No. 1 product at retail due to greater market access, as certain states do not allow multi-serve THC products to be sold in retailers, Dein said. JuneShine is focused on liquor stores and other off-premise retailers that primarily sell bev-alc products, rather than dispensaries or “hemp stores,” he added.
“Our dream is to be sold next to everyday beer, wine, liquor and grocery items,” Dein said.
Willie’s Remedy+ will continue to expand later this year with 10 mg versions of the seltzers, and new flavors in the next year. Additionally, the company plans to add 2 oz. short packages of the bottled product. Meanwhile, its existing offerings are on pace to be a top five intoxicating hemp product based on online sales, with initial growth outpacing top competitors, Dein said.
“We did almost 4x what Nowadays did in their first 100 days, and 5x what Brēz did in their first year,” Dein said. “They definitely started when the category was a bit smaller, but we scaled very quickly to comparable size on a monthly basis.
“Our biggest challenge has been keeping up with production,” he added. “We’ve sold out five times. We’ve been back-ordered. We have a three-week shipping delay. So we’re doing everything we can to deliver to customers and get people product faster.”
Willie’s Remedy+ is also the “official cannabis drink sponsor” of Willie Nelson’s 36-city 2025 Outlaw Music Festival Tour, which runs through September 19. Beverage products are available for concertgoers in all states where THC beverages can be sold. At shows in markets where products can’t be sold due to regulatory restrictions or venue insurance plans, JuneShine will still have a marketing presence, and resources for concert attendees to make DTC purchases, Dein said.
The growth of Willie’s Remedy+ has forced JuneShine to reevaluate its priorities over the next 12-24 months to make sure it can support Willie’s Remedy+’s rate of growth. However, JuneShine’s isn’t putting ambitions for its other offerings to the side, hoping to maintain its status as the “No. 1 hard kombucha brand,” and grow its non-alcholic (NA) kombucha to be No. 1 in its respective category as well.
The company has also made adjustments to its JuneShine pack sizes, moving from 16 oz. single-serve cans, to 19.2 oz. (SRP $2.99), and transitioning from 6-packs of hard kombucha to 4-packs (SRP $9.99).
“When someone’s going to try a new category for the first time, you have to be under $10 for a multi-pack, or under $4 for a single-serve,” Dein said. “So those two packages have been growing for us.
“But the portfolio as a whole, we definitely had some headwinds with just people drinking less, etc.,” he admitted. “It’s definitely been a challenging year – the same challenges that everyone else has had – but those pack-price-architecture things have been that bright spot for us, and we’re still super confident in that core portfolio.”
Year-to-date (YTD) through May 17, JuneShine’s dollar sales (-26.4%) and volume (-25.4%) are both down double-digits in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels, according to data shared by 3 Tier Beverages. Those figures do not include its NA or THC products. Negative trends have accelerated in the last four weeks, with dollar sales and volume both declining 30.4% year-over-year (YoY).