Is the THC Beverage Category Investable?

Three investors across the capital stack sit down with moderator AnnaRae Grabstein (Wolf Meyer) at CannaBev Summit 2026 to answer a foundational question: is this category investable right now? Ryan Lake from JP Morgan's beverage investment banking group, Ian Dominguez from Delta Emerald Ventures, and Brian Rosen from InvestBev ($700mm under management, beverages only) bring three different vantage points to the same conclusion: capital is available for founders who build track record.

The panel covers why beer distributors hold the keys to scale (and why betting against them is a losing proposition), how COD economics and distributor lobbying power make the three-tier path the most pragmatic route to market, what velocity metrics actually unlock investment capital, and how the post-November/December regulatory landscape could trigger a wave of M&A. We also get into margin profiles at distribution scale, the Jim Cook / Boston Beer playbook for building pull, and why an extension without restrictions is dead in the water.

The full Delta Dispatch is invite-only. Request access at https://deltaemerald.substack.com/.