State of Strains

The dispensary marketplace is a lively bazaar, with established brands and entrepreneurs every day coming up with new products — everything from chewing gums to nasal sprays to CBD-packed concentrates and massage lotions.

But the wide range of commercial innovations remain dwarfed, in terms of sales dollars and volume, by the thing that got this whole cannabis train chugging along these commercial tracks: flower.

During the first quarter of 2017 in Colorado and Oregon, and during January and February in Washington, flower grabbed 52 percent of the market on $313.9 million in sales. Concentrates’ market share was less than half of flower’s, at 24 percent, and edibles captured 13 percent.

The flower category may appear fairly monolithic — sales are represented largely by the buds sold in jars and pre-rolled joints — but activity within the behemoth is anything but staid. Most flower is sold as strains, like Purple Haze and White Widow. And consumers in different states largely go their own way when it comes to strain preferences.

Among Colorado, Washington and Oregon, only two strains — Blue Dream and Gorilla Glue — appear in the top 10 list of all three states, according to the market research firm BDS Analytics, which tracks more than 13,000 cannabis strains in its GreenEdge database.



Some strains that are enormously popular in one state — like Golden Goat in Colorado (the No. 2 strain during the first quarter, with $3,616,947 in sales) — do not even appear in the other states’ top 15 strains. Consumers in Washington during January and February, for example, spent enough on Super Lemon Haze to make it the No. 5 strain in state, but sales in Colorado and Oregon are not sufficient for the strain to break the top 15 barrier.



Meanwhile, Oregon bucks the other states when it comes to Blue Dream. That strain has been dominant in Colorado and Washington since both states introduced adult-use cannabis, but Oregonians prefer Gorilla Glue over Blue Dream; they spent more than twice as much on Gorilla Glue during the first quarter ($1,207,133) than they did on Blue Dream ($576,466).

Flower’s commercial effervescence takes place within states, as well as between them. Oregonians during the first quarter of 2017 were the most fickle. They went crazy for Gorilla Glue in January, when they dropped $694,321 on the strain compared to $293,722 for Blue Dream. But in March they spent just $254,704 on Gorilla Glue, while sales in March bumped Blue Dream down from No. 2 to 12th place.

Colorado customers were a bit more steady in their purchases, but Blue Dream has declined steadily since January, while Golden Goat rose and nearly beat Blue Dream before dropping back down again.

Sales in Washington during January and February have been nearly the same for all strains — the graph is a series of horizontal straight lines, with Blue Dream holding a commanding lead, followed by Green Crack, Gorilla Glue and Dutch Treat.

Strains are one of the many aspects of the cannabis industry that make the marketplace so very compelling. Instead of walking into dispensaries and purchasing generic and uniform “cannabis,” the dispensary experience is more akin to what consumers face in wine stores — yes, everything on the shelves comes from grapes, but that fruit offers a wild variety of flavors, aromas and experiences.

Which is super crazy to me because 99 out of 100 (no exaggeration) people i see in the rec shops in
ALL 3 of the states mentioned, are buying "value flower" or "whatever is on special", pre rolls or "shake" which are all blends or no name sativa hybrids and certainly not top shelf like G Glue or G Goat. And i go from ghetto outlets to the tip top shops. I wonder if this is from rec or medical. Id be interested to see how flower vs concentrates and other forms varies over time.

I tend to look for quality verses cost. I have bought $5 grams and sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not. Most of the time it's something that's been sitting around for a while. I just usually buy a couple grams of this and that or 1/8. I like having a variety of several strains. That's just me.

I recently bought some Boy Scout Cookies and I'd never heard of it before so I just bought 3 $5 grams, it was great but that's not always the case. I guess I'm kinda a cannabis snob, I also like to find organic. I have certain producers I look for and it's not the cheapest. Often there are specials some days of the week for 15% off. Some places I get a 10% discount because I'm over 55. Also a tip, stock up on holidays, some stores have discounts then as well. Halloween is coming up.....

this stuff is so interesting to me.. i definitely want to do some weed tourism someday because i'll often be looking up stuff that sounds really good on leafly but it's never available where i am. someday.. cant wait for more freedoms globally to see what's good across the planet

as far as price.. unfortunately at this point im buying what i can afford.. greenhouse at best. i love outdoor but sometimes it really isn't worthwhile at my price point. when i was microdosing exclusively i could afford higher quality stuff but i feel like i go through quarter ounces like they're nothin now so. i also have less money so it's the almost exclusively $20-25 eighths for me these days. it will be interesting to see what changes in terms of lowest prices, quality, and strain availability when recreational storefronts open up here... (though my town still hasn't allowed any dispensary storefronts so i'll probably continue to have to travel a town over )

ensabbahnur said:

Which is super crazy to me because 99 out of 100 (no exaggeration) people i see in the rec shops in
ALL 3 of the states mentioned, are buying "value flower" or "whatever is on special", pre rolls or "shake" which are all blends or no name sativa hybrids and certainly not top shelf like G Glue or G Goat. And i go from ghetto outlets to the tip top shops. I wonder if this is from rec or medical. Id be interested to see how flower vs concentrates and other forms varies over time.

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I've noticed even in illegal states, the average cannabis purchaser likes to cut corners on costs whenever possible. Nobody really cares about getting a decent product (even at a decent price) when they could get mid for cheaper. That's one of the things that to me really draws the line between ordinary users and enthusiasts.

I guess I care about getting a descent product. I don't want to pay less and get an inferior product. I care about organic cannabis and what goes in my lungs. I am a medical patient and can't afford many more health issues. If I pay a few dollars more that's OK with me. It's a little more expensive to grow organic for producers.

If a product has stayed on the shelf for four or five months some it does degrade a bit and dries out. Check the dates. I just saw some Black Cherry Soda on sale from a company that's wonderful 1/2 oz for $75 which is a great price. I usually don't buy a 1/2 oz but I make exceptions. Thank goodness for Boveda packs. I notice many producers use them in the 1/2 oz amounts.

So you need to do your due diligence and look around at the different shops and producers. The costs varies a lot at some of the shops and when you go. The dates on the packages and jars are an important factor to take into consideration when you buy from a store. Where I live everything is prepackaged so you can't smell or touch. That's what happened when the legal recreational came into effect. All the cannabis needs to be in child resistance packaging. That was what our legislature here in WA state voted in.

CarolKing said:

tracks more than 13,000 cannabis strains in its GreenEdge database.

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that sounds like a lot...imagine all in one big mail order catalog - anyone knows more about this database?
Another interesting question would be how much of the sold goods goes to locals and how much goes out of state, guess they won't research that...