Coca Cola Denies That It Plans to Enter CBD Market

Coca Cola Denies That It Plans to Enter CBD Market

In an effort to squelch rumors, in a statement to the website Marijuana Moment, Coca-Cola vehemently denied any plans to join the CBD market.

The denials came after a man, who goes by the name Gabor the Blind Guy on YouTube, claimed to have insider knowledge from his father that the soft drink giant was planning to partner with Aurora, a Canadian cannabis company.

Bloomberg reported last year that the beverage company was actively monitoring the cannabis industry. Still, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey has repeatedly said that the company is not planning to enter the cannabis market. In a statement to CNBC last year, Quincey said, “We want to sell drinks that people can drink each day. So it’s not like you have something once. You have one a day. And if you can’t cross [off] those three things of legal, safe and consumable, it’s not an ingredient that’s going to work for us.”

Gabor posted a video on YouTube and explained that his father, an engineer for a food company that “produces bottling and capping machines” for the pharmaceutical and food business, was approached by Coca-Cola to design a machine that installs a childproof cap on soda cans. According to Gabor, his father then gave him a prototype of the childproofed can to test if a blind person could open it.

“Obviously, they don’t want little kids popping open those cans and drinking them…so my dad was tasked with designing a cap that will prevent little kids from opening these cans of CBD Coca-Cola,” he said. His commentary also mentioned a partnership with Aurora.

Gabor deleted his YouTube and social media accounts, and both Aurora and Coca-Cola have both declined to comment on the topic. Coca-Cola released a statement last year that the company has “no interest in marijuana or cannabis.” Likewise, Aurora said in a statement that it had “no agreement, understanding or arrangement with respect to any partnership with a beverage company.”

About Brian Ellis

With 6 years' experience in business journalism, Brian is the person we turn to for anything related to the business of cannabis. His news coverage spans topics including marijuana business and finance. Brian's work features on marijuanareferral.com, marijuanamerchantaccount.com and marijuanainsuranceagent.com.