California sales numbers from Q1-Q3 are looking quite impressive, coming in at 3.99 Billion with a B… and nearly 200 Million separate packages of cannabis sold.
I am pretty surprised that the average package retail price is so low at $22.82 because this is the average of all packages sold.
This includes ounces(we all know they are above $100), half ounces, and especially with solventless concentrates like rosin and hash picking up in popularity (a decent gram will cost you at least $50).
I assume these numbers from BDSA Analytics don’t include Excise, Sales, and City taxes.
Let’s say if the retail price is $22.82 that the taxes would increase the customer total by 30%, the math is as follows:
Retail Price: $ 22.82
Excise Tax: $ 3.42
Sales Tax: $ 2.30
City Tax: $ 1.14
Customer Total: $ 29.68*
* This is assuming an excise tax of 15% (arms-length transaction), 8.75% Sales tax, and City tax of 5%(which fluctuates depending on the city and may or may not be directly charged to the customer if treated as a business expense instead of a passthrough tax).
Here is a breakdown of that Pack average you saw above by product segment; I am really curious to find out what is actually all considered a concentrate in this data and what is priced so low that the concentrate average is only at $38.14
3.99 Billion is a staggering number, especially if you keep in mind that the Legacy (illicit) market still commands 80% of cannabis commerce.
Although the California Department of Taxes and Fees (CDTFA) shows a decline in sales of a few hundred million per quarter from 2021 to 2022.
Flower is still the dominant product type, even when separated from pre-rolls. I think concentrates are gaining in popularity as a majority of consistent consumers are building a tolerance to THC, and solventless concentrates are growing in particular due to the perceived cleanliness compared to other concentrates from volatile or non-volatile extraction.
A quick look at the top ten brands across California shows a dramatic difference from #1 to #10.
With Stiiizy absolutely crushing it at roughly 475M on the year so far, I wonder if this only accounts for their vapes, dabs, flower, and edibles or if it includes the retail operations they have also been standing up around the state.
James Kim, the founder of Stiiizy, is killing it; mad props to a fellow veteran.
It is confusing to me to see an inverted ratio of total packages to revenue at the far right with sunderstorm. This might make sense if it was legal to give away products for free. Still, I am questioning the accuracy of the graphic unless they went wild on one-penny promos, or this indicates that Sunderstor, Wyld, Camino, and Glass House Farms supplied more products into dispensaries but didn’t see equivalent sales. I’m iffy on this one so take it with a grain of salt.
Here is another look at the top 25 California brand sales quarter over quarter; I am not surprised to see Jeeter and Raw Garden close to the top.
If you haven’t tried a Jeeter yet, do yourself a favor and get to a dispensary, they are tasty infused pre-rolls for sure.
Raw Garden came into the market strong, at really low prices and with high-quality products. As they have grown, I have heard mixed reviews and had my gripes as a dispensary purchasing manager, but anyone growing at such a rate would have some growing pains.
I have mad respect for all these companies that are getting it done at such a high level.
As we see new markets coming online, we see the same trend; everyone pays a “new tax” as consumers are just so excited to be able to purchase legal cannabis.
But the newness quickly fades, and for some reason, cannabis companies’ first instinct is to cut prices to increase volume and try to take market share.
Sure it works, but only until the next more well-funded company comes and goes below you…
These lazy sales/marketing tactics of crazy deals and unsustainable prices are doing more damage than good. Training consumers to only look at the price point and perceived discounts.
This is how you create a commodity market of cornflakes. We all know there is a hell of a lot more to weed than just price and THC content.
Training the consumer to only look at price will end up choking out most mom & pop brands and letting the Big Pharma/Corporate cannabis companies win.
