DENVER – The Hemp Beverage Alliance, a trade association of the hemp beverage industry with more than 280 members in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, formed its 2025/2026 Advisory Board.
Board members include leaders in insurance, banking, payment processing, marketing, distribution, and ingredient manufacturing.
- Justin Ashby, CAO, Southern Crown Partners
- Peter Berg, CDO, Frontier Risk
- Alexander Choi, CEO, Perfectly Dosed
- Josh Dickinson, EVP, EVG Extracts
- Kyle Marinkovich, CEO, Northern Diversified Solutions
- Henry Mashburn, CSO, Alternative Horizons Group
- Eric Meth, CINO, Surfside.io
- Ross Sloan, SVP, Dart Bank
- Aaron Tomarchio, Director of Corporate Affairs, Redwood Beverage
“The Hemp Beverage Alliance is building a foundation of quality, safety, education, regulatory alignment and collaboration that will allow this industry to thrive in coming years,” said Peter Berg, advisory board chairman. “We look forward to working with stakeholders from every sector to continue elevating the hemp beverage category into the mainstream.”
Hemp beverages are seltzers, sodas, mocktails, coffees, teas, and other drinks that contain an infusion of hemp-derived cannabinoids. Since hemp was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill, states like Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and others have developed regulatory frameworks to create a safe and thriving industry. The Hemp Beverage Alliance expects more states to develop similar frameworks in 2025 and 2026.
“The HBA continues to do a remarkable job of bringing industry leaders together for common good,” said Ross Sloan. “We are proud to support and work with them to help the industry grow.”
Founded in 2023, the Hemp Beverage Alliance advocates for policies that create a safe, transparent and thriving hemp beverage industry. HBA membership is open to brands as well as supply chain partners.
“The success of the hemp beverage industry depends on every link in the supply chain working together to educate, advocate, and employ best practices in manufacturing,” said Kyle Marinkovich. “We are excited to work with HBA to educate elected officials and the public about how these products are made and the quality measures that are in place.”
The Advisory Board includes distributors who see the value in having hemp beverages on the shelves next to other adult beverages like beer, wine and hard seltzer.
The board will work with HBA leadership to advocate for sensible regulatory policies, educate regulators, retailers, consumers and other stakeholders about the category, and raise the profile of the industry and the organization.
“Hemp beverages are creating a growth opportunity for thousands of small businesses in a variety of sectors,” said Henry Mashburn. “With the proper regulations and systems in place, this category could easily become a major force in the national economy.”
In addition to advocating for the category, HBA also provides community, networking, and collaboration opportunities for its members.
“The Hemp Beverage Alliance is the town square for the hemp beverage industry,” said Eric Meth. “It’s an amazing group of people with an amazing spirit of collaboration and support.”
The Hemp Beverage Alliance will host its second annual Expo in Atlanta, July 9-11.
“The Hemp Beverage Alliance brings together the best people in the industry and really leverages the power of community,” said Alexander Choi. “It’s inspiring to see so many people working together toward a common goal.”
The Advisory Board will also help the Hemp Beverage Alliance expand its presence throughout the supply chain and bring in new partners to build the organization.
“I’m excited to join this committee and help move the hemp beverage industry forward,” said Josh Dickinson. “I’m passionate about supporting safe, high-quality products and building a smart, fair regulatory path that helps the whole industry grow. When we do it right, everyone doing good work benefits—and I’m here to be part of making that happen.”
About the Hemp Beverage Alliance
The mission of the Hemp Beverage Alliance is to create a safe and thriving industry through education, advocacy, best practices and partnership. We achieve this mission by providing consumers, retailers, and distributors with the information they need to better understand the industry; developing best practices to create consistency in labeling and manufacturing; working with elected officials and regulators to encourage common-sense regulation; and collaborating with cannabis and alcohol industries to create a marketplace that benefits everyone.
