A few years back I had a discussion with some folks who were looking to open up a marijuana business in Detroit. According to these investors, analytics told them that in four years the vast majority of the marijuana market would be extracts rather than flowers. That hasn't happened yet. Flowers are still the queens of the marijuana world.
C3 Industries is one of the bigger players in Michigan, with five High Profile Boutique Cannabis shops across the state, in addition to the Cloud Cover Cannabis grow business. President and CFO Vishal Rungta says that flower is 50 to 60 percent of their sales, and he expects it to maintain that market share as the industry grows.
Tarek Jawad, owner of Herbology Cannabis Co. and Herbal Healing in River Rouge, sees something similar. "Flowers are still the No. 1 seller," he says. "About 75 to 80 percent of sales are flowers."Most folks are still mostly smoking their weed rather than eating it, vaping it, or rubbing it onto their skin.
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That means that most folks are still mostly smoking their weed rather than eating it, vaping it, or rubbing it onto their skin. If you add in the very significant illegal marijuana market, which is almost totally about flowers, buds are really the behemoths of the marijuana business.
Not that there aren't times when edible and extract sales spike upward. Jawad reports that when his stores first began selling recreational marijuana, sales of vape cartridges and edibles picked up.
"People were buying everything — they're cannabis curious, trying everything — they still are,” he says. “Toward the holidays, there was a spike in edibles and cartridges. They're really nice stocking stuffers."
Jawad expects a similar spike for Valentine’s Day and has generated a custom card and stickers to go along with those Valentine’s Day treats. Jerry Millen, owner of The Greenhouse in Walled Lake, agrees that "buds are the cream of the crop," but he expects a pickup for infused products for Valentine’s Day, too. He's stocked up on cannabis-infused items, such as chocolate-covered cherries, chocolates hearts, and Mackinac Island fudge. There's even a little something new for the flower lovers: pre-rolls wrapped in rose petals.
"I try to do special products during holidays," Millen says.
Special products for special occasions — that seems to be the case for all kinds of consumable products. Marijuana isn't any different. But as you peruse — and maybe get confused — by the myriad of products, remember: Most folks are hanging in there with a good old-fashioned joint, even if it's wrapped in rose petals.
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