Featured image for Looking To Get Your THC PHYX?

Looking To Get Your THC PHYX?

by Rudy Sanchez on 04/20/2020 | 3 Minute Read

Although still a niche product among cannabis products, drinkables, that is, beverages infused with cannabis, have a few things going for them—you can make the concentrate of active cannabinoids consistent and low-dose, making them an exceptional alternative for those looking for an alcohol-free drink that still has a bit of an effect on their mood and mind. 

Until now, most offerings consisted of sugary-infused drinks that have an herbaceous, cannabis aftertaste that some find off-putting, and many consumers want to avoid sugar-laden beverages, opting for naturally flavored, sugar-free sparkling waters like La Croix.

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Spherex aims to provide a fast-acting alternative to edibles with PHYX, an infused ready-to-drink sparkling water that features a proprietary nano-encapsulation technology that delivers consistent effects in as little as 10 minutes, wearing off in about an hour or so. Traditional edibles, the ones that come in the form of candy or chocolate, can take 20 minutes to 2 hours to take effect and can last hours.

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Editorial photograph

PHYX’s branding and visual identity, developed with help from agency FuseboxWest, are designed to appeal to the modern cannabis consumer who is more interested in cannabis’ effect on wellness, with a contemporary and luxe bottle design that is stylish and shows little sign of it being an infused drink. This gives the impression that Phyx is a premium bottled water.

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“VOSS bottles have a distinctive shape with brand equity that consumers associate with higher quality than traditional water bottles," says Dan Gardenswartz, Chief Financial Officer of Spherex. "By choosing a similar shape and look, we wanted to leverage the feelings of quality already associated with VOSS to show the consumer this product is different."

"The product design is more similar to wellness-focused CPG than typical cannabis fare," Dan adds. "We wanted the packaging to be unlike any other product a consumer would see in a cannabis dispensary. Whether it is just a single bottle or [it’s] one of our four-pack boxes, when PHYX is standing next to other cannabis-infused beverages, it stands out."

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Editorial photograph

Since it is a cannabis-infused drink, PHYX’s bottle design is constrained by a plethora of regulations and requirements, leading to unique design choices. For example, the outside of the bottles are white and opaque, and to comply with child-proof rules, the interior glass bottle is capped, and opened much like a traditional bottle. The result is a unique bottle that has both a sealed inner cap and is resealable with an outer cap.

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“The most unique challenges we face are packaging regulations,” Dan explains. “Aside from the label requirements, which are constantly changing in the cannabis industry, we had to figure out how to keep our sleek design while still making a child-resistant bottle. We had to get creative to make our packaging compliant. That is why the bottle of PHYX has a custom-designed resealable cap that allows space for a sealed bottle cap underneath it.”

PHYX is available in three flavors-lime, grapefruit, and dragonfruit-and comes in 4-packs as well as single bottles at licensed dispensaries.