Alleh Lindquist

As the cannabis industry matures, we are starting to get reliable data. This can help make decisions based on real sales figures and not predictions. 10 years ago, there was only one state with adult use sales (#colorado) and a handful of states with medical seals. Now there is 24 sates with adult use sales and an additional 15 states with medical seals. At the moment #california leads with total seals but #michigan leads with per capita seals. #florida leads in medical seals. #missouri with a relatively small population and only 17 months since they launched their adult-use market, is already in fifth place. Thank you Debra Borchardt from Green Market Report for the financial update. #cannabisindustry #cannabiscommunity #cannabisnews #cannabiseducation #cannabispolicy #cannbislaw https://lnkd.in/gc96gcCh

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Expectations expectations it’s all about expectations The longer section about expectations and backstage behavior Make no assumptions about prior understanding. Lay it out, stick to it, keep working towards priorities #camnabisindustry #expert 🌱🌱🌱strive to thrive🌱🌱🌱

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Why are value brands and high end brands dominating the cannabis space? It’s the natural progression of a commodity CPG product: Phase 1: Price Shopping The market is new. Supply has not met demand. Goods are overpriced and most shoppers buy the most THC they can, for the least amount of money. Novelty goods move well becuase there is still novelty in dispensary shopping, but there isn’t a ton of differentiation in SKUs. In general, consumers are not smoking as much as they would like. They come into a dispensary with $100, get a half oz or less, and wish they left with more. Phase 2: Value Shopping The market is somewhat mature. Supply has met demand but not necessarily outpaced it. Shoppers are searching for the best intersection of price and quality (aka value). Overpriced novelty goods start to die out, and good brands begin to differentiate themselves. In general, customers are smoking close to their fill every day, but they don’t have a ton of extra cash to try new things. They come into a dispensary with $100, get a cheap oz from a brand they trust or a half oz of nicer product, plus an infused preroll or two, and feel pretty damn good about their purchase. Phase 3: True CPG Shopping The market has matured. Supply has exceeded demand and prices are near the long term ‘true cost’. Shoppers repeatedly buy from brands they trust becuase they provide consistent value. They have ‘daily smoke.’ High end goods that demonstrate consistent value begin to take up a larger portion of baskets. Why…? Becuase customers can finally get as much product as they want for the $100 they walk in with, PLUS a lot more than a couple infused prerolls. They come into a dispensary, spend $60-70 on an oz or a premium half, and still have $30-40 to spend! What are they spending it on? PREMIUM PRODUCTS. They toss in a jar of Jeeter, a 710 Pod, or a Cookies 1/8th… Lastly, becuase dispensaries (and the brands they carry) have diversified and build their menus strategically, when a customer has $3.50 left, out of the $100 they walked on with, the store can capture that as well. Retailers need to make sure their budtender sales process integrates with this type of behavior. Are they letting customers know what their ‘running total’ is before they get tot the close of the transaction, so the customer can max out their spend? Do you have a variety of $10 or less items to fill in those gaps? Do you have a solid offering of premium products in the $20-40 range that your budtenders are incentivized to sell as add ons? Likewise, brands in developing markets need to do their part to ‘arm’ retailers with a line of products that serves the shift in behavior we’ve seen in developed ones. Start thinking more about MSRP and use that to justify your cost targets and wholesale pricing. Position your brand as a daily solution or a premium treat, or be lost in the muddle of the middle. More than anything, PROVIDE CONSISTENT VALUE. The rest will follow.

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Thank you for sharing this, Meg! It's so important to have voices like yours speaking out on how regulations can impact families and businesses alike. I completely agree that while protecting consumers is essential, there are smarter ways to do so without criminalizing parents who are just trying to help their children. Your points about lab testing and age gates are spot on — solutions like these could create a safer, more balanced approach. Prohibition isn’t the answer. We need thoughtful, effective regulations that actually benefit the community.

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I really enjoyed being interviewed and contributing to Forbes new article "CBD For Acne: Does It Work?" providing insights on how to get the most out of your cannabis topical products! I truly enjoy educating and sharing the latest information on how to best use cannabis products effectively, and when it comes to acne, CBD salves and other topicals can be extremely beneficial to use for your skin. Check out the article below and learn more about how CBD topicals can support your personal wellness & beauty routine!

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In the first quarter of 2024, with federal cannabis-reform efforts not yielding any practical changes, Curaleaf made a strategic decision to enter the hemp market. This is a trend we are starting to see. Cannabis can only be sold in the state it was produced and only allowed to be sold through dispensaries (in a hand full of states such as #california it could be sold through a delivery service). Intoxicating products that derived from hemp, are legal to ship across state lines, are available via e-commerce and mainstream retail channels. As well the producers of the products do not need to comply with burdensome licensing requirement and predatory taxation. A lot of politicians say that they support small businesses, but for small cannabis businesses to be able to properly compete, they need to have access to the same distribution channels as #hemp. Thank you Chris Roberts from MJBiz for the market update. #cannabisindustry #cannabiscommunity #cannabisnews #cannabiseducation #cannabispolicy #cannbislaw https://lnkd.in/gJHjPYgG

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https://lnkd.in/gYiS25Cz Some very good quotes from Beau Whitney , decision making needs to be fact based and so much of what's happening with legislators is based on emotions and triggers. As an industry we need to be prioritizing education for consumers and legislators. Fact based decision making will always get a better result.

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Quick question for the #cannabisindustry❓👇 Are Licensed Producers still giving out samples? 🥦 And if yes, what’s the ROI the producer gets by doing so? 📊💰 I don't quite get the purpose of the product samples from the producer side yet, and I would love to hear your thoughts about it. 💭⁉️ #samples #roi #lps

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While other vertical farming companies have shut down, Oishii bucks the trend by focusing on taste, closing $150 million from Bloom8 Miyako Capital and several others. Oishii is best known for its strawberries, which the company has slowly but steadily expanded access to over the last few years via Whole Foods Market. As of now, berries are available predominately in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic US states, though Oishii just expanded to Chicago this month. Their success could be a signal for a second wave of vertical farming startups. Nutrition Capital Network

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Helping us grow since the start. We are honored to welcome back BioTrack as a conference sponsor. Special mention to long time friend and CLAB educator Moe Afaneh. Their mission is to propel the cannabis industry forward through reliable technology solutions that promote transparency and accountability, and that empower governments, businesses, and consumers to make informed data-driven decisions. Established in 2010, BioTrack aims to bring cannabis out of prohibition through transparency, accountability, and scalable growth. As pioneers of seed-to-sale tracking for both business management and government oversight software, the BioTrack team has the professional experience necessary to navigate regulations and enforce compliance across any regulated landscape. BioTrack is a leading seed-to-sale inventory management and dispensary point-of-sale (POS) software designed specifically for the cannabis industry. We offer a comprehensive suite of business tools that give you everything you need to run and control your Cannabis business operation. BioTrack was the first ever cannabis point-of-sale system to integrate every vertical of the cannabis business model into one, universal traceability tool; becoming the first true seed-to-sale cannabis POS software ever made available to the industry. Track your product from growers, to processors, to dispensaries, right into your customer’s hands; all the way from seed-to-sale. BioTrack currently holds 12 government traceability contracts and is actively operating in 38 states, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Canada, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and South Africa. https://biotrack.com Help us Legalize Florida! Updated Agenda, Speakers, Sponsors and Room Rates. 7th Annual Conference - Shaping the Future of Cannabis: October 14-15, Hollywood, Florida Let us know if we can tell you more or if there is someone else who should be getting involved www.clabconference.com

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Here are five ways to improve your marketing process for a CPG product (like cannabis) without spending more money: 1) Actually develop a marketing process. Do you have an SOP for onboarding a new store? For launching a new product or strain? You probably should…. 2) Establish and maintain a feedback loop. Are you talking to retailers after product is delivered to hear what’s working, what isn’t, and why? Why not!? 3) Educate retailer staff with an info sheet inside cases of product. (Ok, this costs $.02 per…. But you get the point.) How are you ensuring retail staff knows the finer points about your product? 4) Systematically evangelize your product thoughtfully on social media. 1000 non-follower consumers seeing your post is a HUGE win. 1 non-follower b2b contact seeing your post is a HUGE win. While there is a small time investment here, if you are authentically working in your business everyday, your content (and your excitement about your product) should come out organically. Not harvesting the marketing benefit from that energy is a huge mistake. 5) Regularly audit and improve merchandising and placement in retail locations. Do you even know how your product is displayed in stores? Do you know how it’s listed on in-store menus? Do you think it could be displayed better/larger/brighter/closer to the register/etc? 6) Improve existing label and packaging messaging. You don’t need to spend more on your packaging to make it better. More importantly, (and this is its own separate post) packaging is often the START of a consumers marketing journey. It should be working for you after the sale, to get the next one. It’s how customers learn about your brand, its history, its value prop, or its how they connect to you online in order to do so. Consumers often buy for the first time on a whim. They buy again and again for a reason. Is your packaging illustrating that reason? Have you A/B tested different verbiage / imagery / layouts with your team or trusted friends? Have you run packaging designs by retail partners you are close with to get a sense on what they think will work? Each of these things is free. And yes, becuase I know some of you trolls out there will be rearing to bring it up: these things do take time, and yes, arguably, time is money. But nothing listed above is a budget item. None of it would break your bank. They would take effort, brainpower, and close cooperation. But more than anything, good marketing is a practice of consistent monitoring and iteration. The world is changing and so are consumers. Competitors are fighting for your marketshare. Each of the things I listed above requires ongoing maintenance. Ongoing care. Ongoing innovation. The SOPs never stop improving. The feedback loop never stops looping. The retailers will always need educating. The online world will always provide new eyes. The product can always be displayed better. Packaging messaging can always be more impactful. That’s the hard part.

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🌿 Despite #high hopes, the #cannabis industry has faced significant challenges. Turns out, it's not as #dope as investors toked it'd be. 📉 The leading player, Curaleaf, saw its value drop from a peak of 💲11.5B in 2021 to 💲4B today, highlighting the downturn in #marijuana stocks. The #market: 💰 Total U.S. Cannabis Market (legal + illegal) is valued at 💲75B, while the the legal US TAM, currently 💲32B, expected to grow to 💲43B by 2027 (source: BDSA) 🗽Just the New York state TAM is a hefty $6 billion cannabis market (and if you've strolled through NYC lately, you'll know it's not just the hot dog vendors adding to the aroma). 🌿 🍺 In comparison, the U.S. #Alcohol Market was valued at $247B in 2021, with the beer market alone at $115 billion, a stark 8x times cannabis TAM. 💼 Diageo, the leader in the spirits market boasts a 💲76B market cap, 💲21B in revenue and over 💲4B in net income. AB InBev, the leader in beer, commands a 💲120B market cap, 💲60B revenue and 💲5B net income. Some analysts believe that if a cannabis leader emerges, it might eventually reach similar figures. A long way to go for Curaleaf and others... 🌍 Besides the US and Canada there's potential in Europe with countries like Germany, Poland, and the UK that loosening cannabis regulations. More are expected to come. The #issues: 💸 Profitability hurdles include prohibitive taxes, with cannabis businesses unable to deduct common expenses, resulting in significant tax burdens despite losses in net income. 🤝 Fragmentation plagues the industry, with no player holding substantial market share, signaling a potential need for consolidation through mergers. 📊 Data on major companies: 📈 Revenue (2023) Curaleaf - $1.35B Trulieve - $1.22B Green Thumb Industries (GTI) - $1.02B Verano - $879M Cresco Labs - $825M 💹 Gross Margin (2023): Trulieve Cannabis Corp. - 52% Verano Holdings - 51% Green Thumb Industries Inc. - 49% Cresco Labs Inc. - 48% Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. - 45% 💼 EBITDA (2023): Green Thumb Industries Inc. - $291M Verano Holdings - $284M Trulieve Cannabis Corp. - $263M Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. - $239M Cresco Labs Inc. - $125M 👥 Total Employees: Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. - 5,650 Trulieve Cannabis Corp. - 5,400 Green Thumb Industries Inc. - 4,561 Verano Holdings - 3,900 Cresco Labs Inc. - 2,760 💼 Market Cap (may 3rd 2024): Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. - $4.17B Green Thumb Industries Inc. - $3.13B Trulieve Cannabis Corp. - $2.33B Verano Holdings - $1.75B Cresco Labs Inc. - $1B Fast forward a decade, where do you envision the cannabis industry? Do you anticipate pharmaceutical companies making their mark in the cannabis market? Could tobacco or alcohol giants venture into cannabis diversification?

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Instead of wine, let’s look at craft cannabis vs craft beer, which holds 24.7% of total US beer market share at retail! This means craft cannabis will be the same? Right? Not really… At wholesale, (where they actually make their money) craft brewers only hold 13.3% of sales. In some ways, yes, there are models in this category that could be feasible for cannabis companies to follow, (Tilray thinks so…) But that’s the point….TILRAY is the #6 ‘craft brewing’ company in the country… Simply put, ‘craft cannabis’ doesn’t equate to ‘craft beer’. “Craft Brewers” are defined by the Brewers Association as: SMALL Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to rules of alternating proprietorships. INDEPENDENT Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. So… you can own 3% of total national market share, and Anheuser Busch can own 25% of your company, and you’d still be considered a craft brewer. This includes companies like: Boston Beer Co. (2,793 employees), $2B in sales Sierra Nevada (1,050 employees), $320M in sales Tilray , (1,600 employees*), $152M in sales *includes cannabis employees One vital point being missed in the comparison between wine and beer and cannabis… we have to note that both wine and beer exist in complex supply chains, wher the grower of the grape very often may not bottle or brand (i.e.selling bulk), and where beer requires hops and barley, which are grown by farmers. So… who are the cultivators in this scenario? The brewers? Or are they barley farmers?

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