One of the more interesting business news stories last week concerned Coca-Cola’s announcement that it was ‘thinking’ of entering the cannabis market with a ‘wellness beverage’.

The announcement was leapt upon by the MASON team who handle the PR for Love Hemp Water – the entrepreneurial brand already selling in the very market Coca-Cola is ‘thinking’ about entering.

Supported by MASON, Love Hemp Water launched its cannabidiol (CBD) infused drink earlier this year.

The brand, which sold a record number of bottles this summer, is stocked in Holland & Barrett, Sainsbury's, Ocado and online at www.cbdoilsuk.com

Each 500ml bottle of Love Hemp Water is sugar free, contains 2mg of CBD and is certified 0.0% THC, meaning it does not have any psychoactive effect when consumed.

It is the first functional spring water in Europe to be infused with cannabidiol, a natural constituent of hemp.

As soon as the Coca-Cola story broke on the business news wires, MASON rang a number of its national and trade media contacts encouraging them to run a feature on Love Hemp.

Sky News loved the idea and, within an hour, one of their senior news correspondents was at Love Hemp’s Croydon HQ interviewing company co-founder Tony Calamita.

Tony talked about the origins of the brand, its success since launch and the company’s plans to continue to expand in the cannabis market.

Tony remarked: “We are interested that Coca-Cola is closely watching the growth of CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverages and may wish to follow in our footsteps.”

The Love Hemp news story ran on several Sky News bulletins throughout the day and evening. It also appeared in a number of other media over the ensuing days.

As former Daily Mail journalists, we pride ourselves on spotting a good news angle and then being able to turn it around quickly so that opportunities are not lost in the fast-moving 24-hour news cycle.

Every day, we are working with clients to help them position their brands to best effect across a wide range of UK and international media.

We’d love to hear your business story. If you’d like to share it with us – and find out what the right kind of PR can do for you – give me a call on 07903 237008 or email me – nick@masonmedia.co.uk