In today’s high-stress, socially distant world, many people are exploring cannabis as a tool to manage anxiety and depression. For those newer consumers, the ease of a pre-roll might be an attractive consumption method, but the typical 0.7-gram serving size might be too much for someone being introduced to the cannabis experience.
That’s the idea besito, an L.A.-based cannabis brand, had when it began developing its mini pre-roll line. The smaller, 0.35 gram joints are targeted to cannabis newbies who might not be able to handle a larger smokable product by themselves, or might not have the ability or comfort in “saving” leftover cannabis, according to besito founder Maggie Connors.
“To me, dosing was going to be the biggest barrier to entry for this new mainstream consumer,” Connors told Cannabis Dispensary about what inspired her to launch this product line. “Most pre-rolls, in California, at least, are 1-gram, which, for a heavy consumer, that can be one serving. But for most folks it's just way too much.”
besito, which is Spanish for “little kiss,” was founded in 2017 as a brand for cannabis-curious newcomers. Cannabis, Connors said, “doesn't have to be that horrible brownie experience you had in college. It can just be a little buzz that takes the edge off and is more akin to a glass of rosé,” and she has developed her brand around this concept. The company’s first launched product was a disposable vape pen line with a milder 2:1 THC-to-CBD ratio.
Pre-rolls only represent roughly 5% of shelf space in California, according to data from Brightfield Group, and typically are viewed as luxury products, according to Connors. That said, she markets her company’s pre-rolls as perfect for the less-experienced consumer. While regular, heavy consumers might not be willing to give up rolling their own joints, “it's a bit extreme behavior for a lighter consumer and more mainstream consumer,” she said. The pre-rolls are sold in a 10-pack totaling 3.5 grams of cannabis, and retail for $40—about the price of a mid-tier eighth, in California.
“Pre-roll feels like a luxury, but for my target, the only way that they're going to smoke weed is having that finished product done for them,” Connors said. The besito team designed a portable tin to carry the pre-rolls, making them easy to carry around. Connors made design a priority, utilizing her background in working with Pepsi and Starbucks to create a brand that would attract consumers. “Design is something that I think is a powerful strategic tool that has especially been deprioritized in cannabis,” she said. “We used human-centered design thinking in our initial brand development to these pre-rolls and the next product innovation we're working on. … That has been a huge aspect of our work philosophy: showing this new aesthetic that's diverse, that's young, that's queer and [represents] our communities who we know to be smoking weed and enjoying it.”
Without knowing when it will be safe to puff, puff, pass again, mini pre-rolls also can allow people to be communal without passing a single joint around, she added. For more regular consumers, the mini pre-rolls can serve to better control the experience in a “modular dosing” way, she said.
Manufacturing mini pre-rolls is a longer process than regular-sized joints. Connors wasn’t able to find an automated pre-roll machine that could accommodate the smaller-sized joint, and so all besito’s minis are hand-packed and -rolled. “There is more labor in that, but I think that's exactly what my target's looking for,” she said.
Being attuned to her target market is the lesson that Connors has taken from the COVID-19 pandemic. Navigating this landscape “comes back to our end-consumer … understanding who they are and what they are uniquely going through right now,” she said. With the increase of online delivery and curbside pickup, the educational relationship with budtenders can be lost. To help fill in the gap, Connors suggested retailers look to expand or improve on online education about different types of cannabis products and dosing.
Images courtesy of besito
