This post originally appeared on gocaliva.com.
Californians love their concentrates just as much as consumers in the other states with mature cannabis markets — Oregon, Washington and Colorado. In California, concentrates captured 26% of the state’s enormous $2.35 billion cannabis marketplace between March and December of 2017 according to cannabis market research firm BDS Analytics. That’s $618.67 million worth of concentrates purchases. Meanwhile, concentrates represent 27% of sales in Colorado, 23% in Oregon and 24% in Washington.
The states are comparable when it comes to concentrates enthusiasm, but things shift dramatically in the realm of vapes. People in California have gone ape for vape — sales of the pens nab 65% of the concentrates market, compared to 34% in Washington and 36% in Colorado. Cannabis enthusiasts in California’s neighbor to the north, Oregon, are just as crazy for vapes, however — Beaver State sales also capture 65% of the concentrates market.
All other states have entered recreational sales with concentrates much lower, in terms of their slice of the sales pie. And over time, flower sales decline, edibles tend to stay fairly steady and concentrates climb. But California entered the world of recreational marijuana on January 1 of this year already looking exactly like a mature recreational marketplace, even though it had been medical since 1996.
And vapes rule. Their slice of the concentrates market during 2017 grew, too. In March, vapes represented 57 percent of the concentrates market, compared to a whopping 70 percent during December. California’s ardor for vapes suggests it is an even more mature recreational marketplace than Colorado, which is entering its fifth year of recreational sales. Vapes’ share of the concentrates market in the Centennial State is just a bit more than half of its share in California. But vape sales are not plateauing in Colorado. In fact, they grew by 69 percent in 2017, and market share rose handsomely across 2017, from 34 percent in January to 41 percent in December. In time, vape’s market share in Colorado may match its share in California.
Understanding the vape market is important for everybody in the California cannabis industry, including dispensaries, oils manufacturers, grows, investors and cultivators. Consumers clearly have embraced vapes, and momentum behind vape sales in other states suggests it won’t fizzle anytime soon in California.
What are vape sales numbers?
March — December 2017
Big Picture
Sales: $399.14 million
Units: 11.26 million
Average retail price: $35.46
The Vape Pie
Vape cartridges: 93%
Vape disposables: 7%
Popular Products Drill-Down
Oil cartridge: 79%
Distillate : 9%
Oil disposable: 7%
Live Resin cartridge: 3%
Most Loved Strain-Specific Vapes — In Order
- Jack Herer
- Sour Diesel
- Gorilla Glue
- Girl Scout Cookies
- OG Kush
- Blue Dream
- Tangie
- Skywalker OG
- Blackberry Kush
- Grandaddy Purple
The Biggest-Selling Broad Vape Categories
- General strain blends: $77,740,000 million
- Indica strain blends: $18,381,336 million
- Hybrid strain blends: $17,977,743
- Sativa strain blends: $16,976,871
- CBD strains: $11,015,798
Check out average marijuana prices in California.
