As we got word of the data around holiday weed sales, there were some interesting metrics to be seen but our absolute favorite was how many people are buying hash. 

When we got to peek a bit of the holiday sales trends from this year, we asked Headset CEO and Co-founder Cy Scott what his big takeaways were. Headset is one of the leading companies analyzing sales trends and all the other things you can look at in large weed data sets. 

Scott first noted there was a lower relative sales response to the last day of 2021 than there was to New Year’s Eve (NYE) 2020. But there was a bit of an explanation to be offered, too. 

“For example, in the U.S., sales on NYE 2020 were up more than 40% over the previous four weeks, whereas in 2021, sales only increased by 6%,” Scott told L.A. Weekly before elaborating on what might have happened. “The fact that New Year’s Eve fell on a Friday this year almost certainly influenced this (Fridays tend to be the highest-grossing days of any week), but we could also be seeing a lessening of consumer enthusiasm caused by the Omicron variant.”

So essentially, a combination of COVID and the day of the week made sales seem like less when purely comparing things based on a NYE spike. People are always going to buy a bunch of weed on a Friday. But, New Year’s Eve 2020 was the start of a three-day weekend for many. That’s a different kind of animal. 

But Scott’s second take was our favorite part of his view on the data. 

“Secondly there were some interesting differences in category trends between NYE 2020 and 2021. Most notably, in 2021 the Concentrates category (as in dab-able wax, shatter, rosin, etc.) had unusually high sales growth,” Scott said. 

And it wasn’t just a little bump. Concentrates saw a major boost on both sides of the border.  

“It was the category with the second-highest growth on NYE 2021 in Canada, and the third-highest in the U.S.,” Scott said. “In fact, in Canada, concentrates saw even higher sales growth than beverages that are usually the top performers around holidays. Concentrates generally require the most ‘hardware’ to consume and therefore tend to be purchased by more-experienced cannabis users. We don’t typically see their sales surge around holidays that are associated with parties or social gatherings such as New Year’s Eve.”

We caught up with the three-time Emerald cup and High Times Cannabis Cup winners at Royal Key Organics (RKO) to get its take on the wave of hash enthusiasm that kicked off 2022. RKO founder Josh Vert laughed when he saw the data. It fit the wild year in hash. 

“You see people like Puffco coming out with hardware that gets easier and easier (for consumers), and more accessible to us, but it’s not without its hurdles,” Vert told L.A. Weekly.  

Vert noted The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act companies like Puffco are dealing with has a trickle-down effect to the people who make hash. Since hardware tends to be a critical asset, any bottleneck in the supply chain just prevents new people from making the jump to hash and becoming regular consumers. Not to mention all the other hoops of just being a hash company in California. 

Vert, like anyone in cannabis, is no stranger to supply chain delays. He agrees with the sentiment that hash may be the best representation to actually enjoy cannabis in its full expression because so much flower is delayed on its way to shelves, while a lot of the best hash is preserved in cold storage.

We asked Vert if he was surprised hash beat our beverages in some cases, generally one of the fastest-growing spaces in cannabis. 

“I am and I’m not. I feel like it’s maybe I’m naive, but I think it’s easier to titrate a dab for a beginner than it is an edible, which I consider a beverage even if they’re not,” Vert replied. 

 

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.