From Controversial To Profitable: Why Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo And Other CPG Brands Should Embrace Cannabis

The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Market worldwide is expected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2027. However, CPG companies face multiple challenges such as how to strengthen consumer loyalty in a highly saturated market, differentiate their brands from other brands and attract consumers with volatile behavior.

More than ever CPG companies such as Nestle NSRGY, Procter & Gamble Co. PG, and PepsiCo Inc. PEP are looking to new segments such as self-care, plant-based products, and personalized items to bond with customers, provide an experience, and build a community.

Then, what can cannabis do for CPG companies and brands facing these challenges? We have come up with a straightforward list of reasons to consider cannabis as an alternative for CPG companies.

To know more, CPG companies will have the opportunity to meet with individuals, entrepreneurs, and organizations leading the cannabis supply chain during the next Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, taking place on April 11-12, 2023, at the historic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

Why CPG Companies Should Embrace Cannabis?

A Highly Regulated Industry, Think Global

Many companies are already growing cannabis in other parts of the world and are aiming high for global markets. If you are worried about liabilities and conflicts with the FDA, think again, because as more countries grow affordable cannabis, a global supply chain is starting to consolidate.

Cannabis global supply chain is relentlessly assembling competitive cannabis producers on one end, processors in the middle, and retailers, selling much more than just CBD or cannabis flowers.

From food to skincare and supplements, cannabis is a full-spectrum platform for CPG. And unlike the popular notion of being an illegal business, few industries are tracked and controlled as cannabis does. While new technologies have transformed cannabis extraction for therapeutic use, GMP regulations can ensure that products are safe for consumption and your brand is in line with EU regulations.

Sustainability

Consumers, Millennials and Gen Z in particular, are looking for values and meaning in brands. Thus, what used to be washed brands suitable for everybody to purchase, now need to take a stand for something, and cannabis is an industry that can be carbon neutral, delivering one of the most important values for society today: sustainability.

CPG brands can produce, distribute and sell products that are made with recycled materials, or reduce the impact of global warming by resorting to modern technologies, but can they sell a product that actually fixates carbon in the soil and amend deserted fields? As impactful as it sounds, cannabis absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more than twice as effectively as trees.

Culture Is Our Differentiator

Have you ever worn a t-shirt that reads Clorox? Watched a movie about laundry detergent? Or a song about snacks in the top-ranking music charts? Well, like many CPG brands, cannabis is all over public opinion, but clearly, people like to talk about cannabis in mainstream media. And unlike in the past, when cannabis was about getting stoned, in this century, cannabis is strongly associated with wellness and health.

Meanwhile, some of the most consumed products in the world are not backed by a culture of care, solidarity, and wellness, such as cannabis. People can get a kick from a new softener with a fresh scent, but can softener ease their pain, relax their minds or nurture their bodies? Do they feel passionate about how household products are made?

Unless you are a big fan of laundry, it is really hard for CPG marketers to create a vibe, much less a community around household products. That is not the case for cannabis. With over 5000 years of use, cannabis has become a pop icon and an object of tribute for many that enjoy its medical benefits.

Are you worried about omnichannel marketing and user-generated content for your CPG brand? Cannabis culture is already doing that for the industry at a micro, social level.

Personalization Is King

Can CPG brands differentiate from others beyond price compression and visual marketing at a competitive cost? Fortunately, the wide variety of cannabis strains allows companies to produce different kinds of products.

Forget about offering a new fragrance or flavor, traditional differentiators for CPG products. Think about the therapeutic effect of hemp-derived food and supplements on the human body and pets.

We Build Relationships

CPG brands are often after improving consumers’ retail experience. The low cost of CPG products makes it easy for consumers to switch products, based on price, availability, and recognition. But cannabis can do a lot more for consumers than just improving retail experiences, cannabis, and cannabis-derived products can improve the quality of life of consumers and build a relationship based on trust.

Consumers are more than ever concerned about their health and cannabis can help with that too. By offering products that improve people’s lives, CPG brands can drive purchase consideration and escape from fungibility confinement.

Furthermore, the cannabis industry offers an overabundance of data on consumers’ preferences that is key to understanding their needs and building mutually reinforcing and long-lasting consumer relationships.

Are you interested in understanding the cannabis opportunity for CPG? Join us in April at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference and stay at Miami Beach’s historic Fontainebleau Hotel. Don't miss out on a chance to hear about future market forecasts and worldly advice on investing and finance from those embedded in the cannabis industry. Are you ready?

Buy your tickets HERE before prices go up.

Photo by Hannes Egler on Unsplash.