Jimi DevineThe biggest names in L.A. cannabis all packed up to head north for the biggest cannabis business show in two years last week for Hall of Flowers.
The most recent installment of Hall of Flowers took place in the heart of wine country at Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. Before the pandemic, Hall of Flowers had ascended to the number one cannabis trade show with a California focus, so by the time the world opened back up, people were thirsty to walk its aisles and see who had the heat.
Courtesy of Hall of Flowers
We’ll cover that heat a bit later in the week. But today we’ll tackle a question that’s popped up more and more in the last two years as killer L.A. brands have made their way north. Why did it take these brands so long to get up the 5? Well … because L.A. loves its weed.
For a long time, the best weed in L.A. never left town. The local wares were absorbed by the world’s biggest retail cannabis market without a problem. Then a few compounding factors hit. L.A. survivors expanded in the wake of clearing the hurdles of Prop. 64. Add to that a lot of L.A. shelf space not making it through licensing, and you have a prime scenario for L.A. cannabis brands expanding their geographic footprint. And it has.
More and more L.A. names pop up in Northern California, with the last few years seeing names like Wonderbrett and Dr. Greenthumb take off, and then more recently the Jungle Boys inaugural NorCal drops being a hit. It’s no surprise you could run into all three of these names and a ton of other killers at Hall of Flowers.
Courtesy of Wonderbrett
Things commenced Tuesday evening at the Jelly Wizard party ahead of the expo floor opening Wednesday morning. It featured the first L.A. faces of the week including the Cookies Maywood team. But while business started early for some, Wednesday would be a whole other level of cannabis commerce.
With the first day featuring buyers and producers exclusively, a lot of people came out the gates hard hoping to impress and close deals. Many in the L.A. contingent didn’t even have booths while others like Wonderbrett and Cali-X went all out.
One of the L.A. brands that’s has done well in NorCal in recent years is West Coast Cure. Founder Jcures explained to L.A. Weekly what events like Hall of Flowers mean to operators like himself that have survived the transition to the legal market.
“I’m super excited to be at Hall of Flowers with you in 2021,” Jcures said. “Coming from the traditional market, this has always been a dream of mine to be accepted in the business world and it’s finally here. It’s really the beginning of a new life, because now it’s the old days and now feels like this is a brand new beginning. It’s very exciting.”
Longtime OG Kush standout and Insane OG collaborator Kenji Fujishima offered a similar take. But for him, someone who had been at it 20 years, Hall of Flowers provides a moment to understand what’s happening in the industry all under one roof.
“These are important regardless of status. You have to be able to understand to go out and compete,” said Fujishima. “You never know what you’re going to see.”
Cryo Sales Group founder Skyler Schrein leads sales efforts for popular L.A. companies like Your Highness and Cali-X, in addition to helping the Terp Hogz move their elite Original Z lineup. One of the younger members of the L.A. contingent to head north, he believes Hall of Flowers to be a combination of networking and flexing for dispensary buyers while they have the other brands in the room to hold up against your product. With the trio he represents, most of it didn’t.
“It’s just about networking with everybody. And meeting everybody and talking about all the dope things that each brand could do together and hopefully build each other’s brand upon each other. That’s what I’ve been talking about,” Schrein said.
But if they’re not about helping everyone grow together in the booming cannabis scene, it’s about letting them know what’s up. Schrein pointed to the Terp Hogz as a good example.
“When they do it they want to make sure their shit is always continuously on edge,” Schrein said. “They’re continuously holding other brands on edge on what they’re going to be doing and trying to just level up on top of everybody else, you know what I mean? And it’s pretty cool salesmanship.”
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