Walk into a liquor store today, and you’ll find THC drinks promising relaxation, social occasions, and a better-for-you buzz. As more brands enter the category, finding shelf space and standing out is becoming increasingly difficult.

Last Rep, a Florida hemp beverage startup, decided not to compete for everyone. Instead, it’s building its brand around a very specific customer: the active consumer. It’s a different approach in an industry where many brands are racing to partner with distributors and land in as many restaurants, bars, and liquor stores as possible.

Florida remains one of the easiest markets in the country for hemp beverages. Operating under the 2018 Farm Bill, brands can sell products through a wide range of retail channels, and consumers can find hemp beverages in liquor stores, convenience stores, mainstream retailers and at events. While lawmakers continue debating future regulations, companies currently have far more flexibility than those operating in states with strict THC limits or outright bans.

That doesn’t mean selling is easy.

Jay Ashton, co-founder of Last Rep, says consumer education remains one of the biggest hurdles.

“The thing we hear a lot at events is, ‘How is this legal? How are you able to sell it here? Don’t you have to be in a dispensary?'” he said. “You have to slow the conversation down and explain that cannabis and hemp are different categories.”

Even with broad retail access, Ashton says bars have been slower to embrace hemp beverages than many expected. Many owners are still trying to understand the regulations, insurance requirements and potential liability before bringing the products behind the bar.

“If I went to 10 bars in Tampa, two out of the ten are probably going to have it,” he said. “It’s more than it was six months ago, but it’s still not where I thought it would be.”

Rather than competing for the same customers as every other hemp beverage brand, Ashton and his business partner focused on finding a consumer with a specific need. They saw an opportunity among athletes and fitness-minded consumers who wanted a social alternative to alcohol without sacrificing their lifestyle, and then built Last Rep around that audience by shaping the product, branding, and distribution strategy to meet their needs.

Finding a Different Customer

When they began developing the brand and researching the market, Ashton and his business partner noticed that many THC beverages fell into one of two camps: drinks loaded with sugar or products marketed almost entirely around getting high.

“We tasted probably 80% of what was on the market in Florida,” Ashton said. “Anything that tasted good had 30 to 40 grams of sugar. Then the other side was basically ‘get high in a can.'”

Rather than trying to make a better version of either, they started looking for consumers whose needs weren’t being addressed. They found them among fitness-minded people trying to balance an active lifestyle with a social life without sacrificing tomorrow’s workout.

“We wanted something functional that is for athletes… people that struggle with, ‘I can’t go meet my friends on a Thursday night because I’m training for this,'” Ashton said. “It’s not because I don’t have the willpower not to drink. I don’t even want to be in that situation.”

Instead of positioning Last Rep as a post-workout recovery drink, they focus on the after-work social occasion.

“It’s more about, ‘Hey, we’re all getting together at the bar tonight,'” Ashton said. “What if we gave somebody an option where they didn’t have to give back the gains in the gym?”

Their strategy is working so far: “I’m being sold in more gyms and wellness facilities than I am in bars,” Ashton said.

Building the Product Around the Customer

The founders hired a PhD to help formulate the beverage around an athlete’s lifestyle, rather than adding trendy ingredients for marketing purposes. The drink contains no sugar, six calories, electrolytes, L-theanine, ashwagandha, and CBG.

“We told our PhD, ‘We want it to be functional, and we want it actually to do what it’s supposed to,'” Ashton said.

An unexpected validation of their formulation came during the company’s very first event. A woman declined a sample, explaining she didn’t consume THC. But she continued examining the can. She eventually introduced herself as a PhD dietitian who had spent more than two decades overseeing beverage development at Pepsi. After reviewing the formulation, she told Ashton the ingredients were thoughtfully balanced and even pointed out that the beverage contained more electrolytes than Gatorade.

“Last Rep has more electrolytes than Gatorade, then became one of our marketing talking points,” Ashton said. “Everybody understands what that means.”

Finding Customers in Unexpected Places

Last Rep launched in January 2026 as the hemp beverage industry faced growing uncertainty. The company entered the market amid discussions about potential federal hemp restrictions, rising competition among brands seeking distributor partnerships, and distributors taking a cautious approach as they await greater regulatory clarity.

Those challenges have forced the Last Rep team to think differently about where and how the brand enters the market. Rather than chasing saturated traditional channels first, they have focused on finding where their target consumers already gather.

One light-bulb moment came when Ashton met with the owner of a CrossFit gym that shares a property with a brewery. As they toured the facility, two members finished their workout, walked downstairs, and ordered beers.

Instead of seeing a brewery full of potential customers, Ashton saw a gym with an untapped sales opportunity. Rather than chasing the same retail accounts as every other hemp beverage brand, he began looking for businesses that already served his target customer.

Building Around a Specific Consumer

The athletic market won’t be the right fit for every brand.

Some may resonate with golfers. Others may find an audience among older adults, boaters, musicians, or people seeking low-dose cannabis experiences.

As the hemp beverage category grows more crowded, brands will need to do more than create another THC drink. They will need to understand who they are trying to reach and build their sales strategy around that customer.