Pre-Rolls Remain The Fastest Growing Product Segment In The Cannabis Industry, White Paper Finds

Custom Cones USA published a white paper in partnership with Headset revealing that pre-rolls remain the fastest-growing product segment in the cannabis industry, growing 12% year-over-year in the US and 38% year-over-year in Canada.

The Custom Cones USA team polled over 300 companies from every corner of the pre-roll industry and analyzed retail POS data from Headset, as well as their own B2B sales data to illustrate why the pre-roll category is one of the leading product categories for cannabis companies. Notable findings include:

Infused Pre-Rolls are the Largest Growing Segment in The Pre-Roll Industry

• In both the US and Canada, pre-roll segments were two of the top three highest-growing individual product segments

  • Infused/connoisseur pre-rolls

    • +1,426% YoY in Canada

    • +22% YoY in USA

  • Mixed strain pre-rolls

    • +440% YoY in Canada

    • +63% YoY in USA

  • Disposable vape pens

    • +160% YoY in Canada

    • +60% YoY in USA

• Since 2021, data shows an almost 400% growth in multi-pre-roll packs that have a volume of 2 or 5 grams

The Rise of Higher Quality Pre-Rolls at Lower Retail Price Points

• Over the past few years, the wholesale price of flower has dropped dramatically, making high-quality flower pre-rolls more affordable.

• Advancements in both table-top cone filling machines and automated pre-roll machines have allowed manufacturers to produce more pre-rolls with lower labor costs. All these factors combined led to higher quality pre-rolls at lower retail price points, which has driven strong growth for the category.

• Producers no longer have to infuse each pre-roll by hand, as they now have access to machinery that can efficiently automate infused pre-roll production at scale.

In The US and Canada, Pre-Rolls Show the Least Amount of Price Compression

• In Canada, infused pre-rolls have become so popular that it is driving up the average cost of a pre-roll. The company’s research shows that people are willing to pay more for potency, which is a common theme across the cannabis industry.

• The most important takeaway is that, even though prices for all cannabis products decline over time, pre-rolls are showing the least amount of price compression. In other words, if you are in the business of selling cannabis, and you are worried about declining margins, pre-rolls are a category you should be expanding into to maintain and boost profitability.

Photo by Dad Grass on Unsplash