Jones Soda is expanding its product portfolio with Mary Jones, a new brand of cannabis edibles that includes cannabis-infused sodas, gummies, and syrups.
Mary Jones is set to launch on April 1st in California, which has a legal cannabis market of roughly $4 billion. In an interview with CNBC, Jones Soda marketing chief Bohb Blair said that nearly a third of adult Californians shop in dispensaries, creating a huge market for Mary Jones cannabis edibles.
“If we crack it in California, we’re going to do gangbusters as we go through the Midwest and East,” Blair added.
Though Jones Soda is admittedly a small company compared to beverage giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Jones Soda plans to expand its Mary Jones products in all states where it’s legal for adults to use cannabis and, eventually, nationwide.
“We’re a small player in soda, but we’re going to be the biggest national player when it comes to a recognizable [consumer-packaged goods] name in cannabis,” Blair said.
Mary Jones cannabis edibles
The initial launch of Mary Jones cannabis edibles will consist of four different product lines: 12-ounce bottles of soda infused with 10 milligrams of cannabis; 16-ounce cans of soda infused with 100 milligrams of cannabis; syrup designed to mix with other drinks or on food with 1000 milligrams of cannabis per bottle; and gummies infused with five milligrams of cannabis, shaped like mini Jones Soda bottles.
Mary Jones’ packaging
As seen in the photo above, Jones Soda designed Mary Jones’ packaging in a way that the new brand benefits from Jones Soda’s recognition, and made it different enough for consumers to differentiate the two brands.
The Mary Jones logo has the same font for “Jones,” but with the “N” backwards. In accordance with local regulations, the labels of the cannabis edibles also have the dosage in a larger font than any other claims.
Additionally, to help avoid confusion with non-cannabis versions of Jones Soda drinks, Mary Jones cannabis-infused products will only be sold in dispensaries, at least initially, in California.
As for how Jones Soda came up with the brand name Mary Jones, Blair noted that Mary Jones is a play on “Mary Jane,” which is a common nickname for marijuana. “Coke has Diet Coke, and people get that 100%. So we qualified Jones with Mary Jones,” Blair explained.