Making a cannabis beverage starts with a basic technical problem: cannabinoids are oil soluble, while beverages are water based. Getting the two to mix and remain mixed throughout a product’s shelf life requires emulsion technology. LEVIA, like most cannabis beverage brands, initially looked outside the company for that technology. But ultimately, co-founder Eric Rogers and his team decided they could get better results by building the technology themselves.
“We ultimately realized that the best way to create products that truly meet our standards is to develop our emulsions ourselves. Bringing emulsion development in-house allows us to formulate specifically for our own products.” Rogers said.
LEVIA wanted greater control over consistency, stability, taste and the overall experience of its products. The company already extracts its own oil and manufactures its finished products, and bringing emulsion development in-house gave its team control over another critical part of the process.
The technology works by breaking cannabinoid oil into small droplets that can be dispersed throughout a water-based beverage. Consumers may be familiar with the term “nanoemulsion,” which is frequently used to describe technology found in cannabis beverages.
“‘Nanoemulsion’ is referring to the size of the dispersed oil droplets; in other words, how big the tiny drops of oil in the product are. Since oil can’t be dissolved into water, we have to break it into tiny drops and then disperse those evenly in the beverage – and that’s the purpose of the emulsion. So, a nanoemulsion generally features oil droplets under 100 nanometers in diameter, though this definition is used loosely,” Rogers said.
But droplet size is only one consideration. The ingredients used to create the emulsion, the source of the cannabinoid extract and the way the emulsion interacts with the rest of a beverage can all affect the finished product. LEVIA uses plant-derived emulsifiers and full-spectrum CO2 oil. According to Rogers, the company also applies the same standards to its emulsion ingredients that it does to the finished beverages.
“Our emulsifiers are rock-solid; they’re part of the same ingredient class that is used in baby formula, so we’re proud of our product’s reliability and safety. We hold our emulsion to the same standard as our end products themselves.”
Developing the technology took months, but the R&D has continued well beyond the point when LEVIA began using it commercially.
“It took months and is still happening even now. For us, R&D is ongoing, there is always room for improvement and the opportunity to make our products better. We’re not content with ‘good enough’ and strive to craft the best products possible, which is reflected in our continuous R&D.”
Rogers said changes that may seem relatively minor can have an impact on an emulsion. Different production machines and emulsifiers can produce different results. Even sourcing the same type of emulsifier from a new supplier can change the outcome.
“There are differences in production machines, emulsifiers, and in fact even the same emulsifier from a new supplier can yield totally different results. We’ve worked hard to build a reliable supply chain from the ingredients to the processing equipment.”
Having the emulsion team and product development team working together has also made it easier to identify problems earlier and make adjustments.
“We’re able to R&D and troubleshoot both the emulsion and the finished product right next to each other, which reduces our development cycle so we can iterate faster and create better products for our customers.”
That has become increasingly useful as LEVIA experiments with products that include ingredients beyond cannabinoids and traditional beverage flavorings. Botanicals and other functional ingredients can interact with an emulsion in unexpected ways.
Rogers saw that firsthand during a recent collaboration with Ahh Moments on an all-natural energy shot containing matcha.
“Very quickly we realized that the matcha was pulling all THC out of solution creating inconsistent dosing at scale. This was not something that was present in pilot batches. These challenges come up often as companies continue to push the envelope of ingredients, especially other functional or plant-based ingredients.”
Problems like that can have consequences beyond flavor or appearance. If cannabinoids do not remain evenly dispersed, consumers may not receive the intended dose.
“Using our emulsion actually makes dosing more accurate – taking too much or too little can be a disappointing or disorienting experience. We have some custom equipment that we’ve also built to ensure dosing accuracy,” Rogers said.
LEVIA tests its products for stability and dosing accuracy before launch. Flavor, mouthfeel and shelf stability also factor into the formulation process, and Rogers said changes intended to improve one characteristic can affect another.
“Definitely, and it’s a delicate balancing act between all those properties you mentioned. This is where our ability to quickly iterate gives us a huge competitive advantage – there’s no substitute for good R&D.”
The decision to own the technology has taken on a larger role as LEVIA has moved beyond its original seltzers. Its lineup now includes products such as Drink Drops and Water+, which require different formulations.
“Using our own technology allows us to imagine first, and formulate second. We’ve been able to tweak and adapt the formula for a format like Drink drops to ensure we are maintaining a neutral flavor profile without any bitterness. The ability to do this in house has drastically reduced the R&D lifecycle.”
LEVIA is also using the technology to work with different cannabinoid profiles. Rogers describes the encapsulation technology as an “operating system” that can be adjusted depending on what the company is trying to formulate.
“For LEVIA, we view the encapsulation technology as an operating system that we can use to activate our cannabinoid profiles in products. We are able to push our full spectrum approach by supplementing with minor cannabinoids to deliver what the market is seeking. With control over the technology and raw ingredients going in, we believe that translates to a higher quality product.”
For companies looking to enter cannabis beverages, Rogers said the technical questions should be considered alongside the more traditional questions around the target consumer and market opportunity. Ingredients, manufacturing and storage requirements can quickly complicate what looks like a relatively simple beverage concept.
“They need to have a good understanding of the consumer they are trying to target and what market needs the product is satisfying. Also consider your ingredients and storage requirements. Cannabis still lacks a cold supply chain, so creating a drink that requires refrigeration can create additional and costly hurdles for them to overcome.”
LEVIA’s experience developing its own emulsion shows how much of the work behind a cannabis beverage happens long before it reaches a can or bottle. As beverage formulations become more complex, the company is betting that having its emulsion R&D under the same roof will make it easier to solve those problems — and get new products to market faster.
