It’s not uncommon for flower connoisseurs to carefully examine their bud, asking budtenders for the biggest and beefiest of nugs with size and structure acting as crucial selling points. However, that trend seems to be shifting in Canada.
According to recent Headset data, as outlined in a recent MJBizDaily report, Canadian flower consumers are beginning to take to pre-ground flower, sold ready to pack into a pipe, vaporizer, joint or blunt—no grinder needed. While the trend has yet to reach the U.S., the report notes that the rise in popularity of pre-ground flower generally looks to be propelled by convenience and value.
For perspective, Headset’s numbers put it into perspective. At the beginning of 2020, ground-flower sales were almost zero in the four Canadian provinces the analytics firm tracks: Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Nearly three years later in December 2022, ground flower had risen to 7.3% of all flower sales in the four provinces, which Headset Analytics Manager Cooper Ashley called “very, very much a significant portion of the highest-revenue category.”
Headset data also shows that the price trajectory of ground cannabis mirrors those same trends for Canadian cannabis, falling from about CA$7 per gram in early 2020 to CA$4 per gram in 2022, approximately 25% less than whole flower on average during the same year. The lower price point is likely part of the appeal, retailer Cavion told MJBizDaily, and it also plays into convenience, given that pre-ground cannabis removes the need to even have a grinder.
Upon recreational legalization in 2018, high prices were a regular complaint. However, the rise in ground flower coincides with an adjacent trend that’s gained popularity in Canada: value brand cannabis at lower prices. Ironically, Maria Guest, vice president of cannabis brand Pure Sunfarms, said that ground cannabis actually costs “a little bit more” to produce, given the additional processing required.
Pure Sunfarms’ parent company, Village Farms International, also cited milled flower as one of the “key branded formats experiencing growth” last year in a regulatory filing.
Canada first legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2018, and Guest said in those early days, there wasn’t as much of a consumer interest for pre-ground flower.
“I think it was seen as maybe inferior to other products,” Guest told MJBizDaily. “And that was probably because people thought it was shake and trim.”
However, Guest said that consumers have grown over time to trust that pre-ground flower can indeed be a quality product as well.
Looking at the United States, however, it’s clear that ground flower isn’t nearly as popular.
Headset covers the California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state markets, finding that ground flower accounted for just 0.9% of the flower category in 2022. Even shake and trim, which Headset considers a separate category, had higher sales, coming in at 2.3% of the overall flower category.
Of course, it’s not surprising that there are some differences between Canadian and U.S. cannabis consumer trends, though Headset analyst Ashley called this distinction “one of the biggest ones I’ve ever seen. Ashley cited two of the main selling points for Canadians, price and convenience, adding that the idea either simply isn’t resonating with U.S. consumers or that U.S. brands haven’t given pre-ground flower a proper go yet.
Organigram Holdings CEO Beena Goldenberg spoke to MJBizDaily about the success of the company’s Shred brand of ground-flower products, centering convenience and consistency. While Goldenberg noted that Organigram has been approached by a number of international customers in attempt to understand the Shred brand and its popularity, she doesn’t believe that the whole flower segment of the market is about to be dethroned, given that there will always be people who want to see the bud and its structure.
She argued, though, that there’s room to grow this segment, adding, “Convenience will be a big driver; the consistent flavor will be a big driver.”
