Burma Brewing Is Quietly Powering the Functional RTD Revolution — and Just Getting Started

FORT MYERS, FL — In an industry where speed, compliance, and quality can make or break a brand, Burma Brewing has emerged as one of the most important behind-the-scenes forces in the functional ready-to-drink beverage space. The Fort Myers, Florida-based co-packing facility has spent the last three years building a reputation as the go-to manufacturing partner for some of the fastest-growing names in kratom, kava, kanna, and THC beverages — and now, it's doubling down on that momentum.

Building the Backbone of Functional RTD

While consumers reach for their favorite functional canned drinks on store shelves, few realize the complexity happening behind the scenes. Formulating, filling, pasteurizing, and storing beverages that contain botanical actives and hemp-derived compounds requires a level of expertise that most conventional co-packers simply don't have. Burma Brewing was built specifically for this challenge.

Over the past three years, the company has supported some of the top brands in the kratom, kava, kanna, and THC beverage categories — handling everything from formulation development and production to warehousing and fulfillment. That track record of customer success has fueled the company's next chapter of growth.

Burma is currently expanding its production capabilities with the addition of new rotary filling lines and pasteurization technology, upgrades that will meaningfully increase throughput and allow the facility to service a broader range of functional beverage formats. For brands navigating a high-growth, high-scrutiny market, having a manufacturing partner with both the technical depth and the capacity to scale is not a luxury — it's a necessity.

A Breakthrough in Extract Technology: Emulsion That Changes the Math

Perhaps the most significant development coming out of Burma Brewing isn't on the production floor — it's in the lab.

Burma has developed a proprietary emulsion technology purpose-built for functional beverages, and the results are turning heads across the industry. The technology delivers double the bioavailability of conventional extract formats, meaning that brands can achieve the same — or superior — consumer effect using significantly less active ingredient per serving. In a category where ingredient costs are among the highest line items on a bill of materials, that's a game-changer.

Equally important, Burma's emulsion technology extends shelf life, a critical advantage in a market where distribution timelines are long and retail placement can mean a product sits on shelf for months before it's purchased.

"Less is more" isn't just a philosophy at Burma — it's an engineered outcome.

Lowering the Barrier to Entry: MOQs That Actually Make Sense

One of the most persistent pain points for emerging functional beverage brands has been minimum order quantities. Legacy co-packers built for mainstream CPG have long required MOQs of 50,000 cans or more — a threshold that effectively shuts out startups, challenger brands, and companies that want to move with the speed the market demands.

Burma Brewing took a different approach from day one.

The company offers minimum run sizes of just 10,000 cans, a figure that opens the door for early-stage brands to enter the market without overextending their capital, and for established brands to test seasonal offerings, limited editions, or regionally tailored SKUs without committing to inventory they may not need.

In a category where label requirements, compliance standards, and consumer trends can shift overnight, that kind of flexibility isn't just convenient — it's a strategic advantage. Brands working with Burma can adapt, iterate, and respond to regulatory changes without being locked into production runs that may become obsolete before they hit shelves.

Positioned at the Intersection of Innovation and Compliance

The functional beverage space — particularly in kratom, kava, kanna, and THC — operates under a level of regulatory scrutiny unlike any other segment of the beverage industry. Label requirements shift. Ingredient thresholds are debated. State-by-state rules create a patchwork of compliance demands that can overwhelm brands without the right partners.

Burma Brewing has built its operation with this reality at its core. The facility's formulation expertise, combined with its commitment to quality control and production integrity, gives brand partners a foundation they can trust when the regulatory landscape shifts — as it inevitably will.

A Word from the Founder

"When we started Burma Brewing, we saw a clear gap in the market. The brands doing the most exciting work in functional beverages — the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the people pushing kratom, kava, kanna, and THC into the mainstream — they were being left behind by a co-packing industry that wasn't built for them. We built Burma to change that. Our emulsion technology, our flexible run sizes, our expansion — all of it is in service of one goal: giving brands the tools to compete, adapt, and win in one of the most dynamic spaces in beverages today. We're not just a co-packer. We're a growth partner."

— Joseph Tolisano, Founder, Burma Brewing

About Burma Brewing

Burma Brewing is a full-service beverage co-packing facility headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, specializing in functional ready-to-drink beverages. The company offers co-packing, formulation development, storage, and logistics services with a focus on botanical and hemp-derived active ingredients. Burma Brewing serves brands across the kratom, kava, kanna, and THC beverage categories, with minimum run sizes starting at 10,000 cans and proprietary emulsion technology delivering enhanced bioavailability and extended shelf life.

For partnership inquiries, contact Burma Brewing at Jason Croxford at burmabrewing.com