This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Cannabis Dispensary. To subscribe, click here.
With concentrate and cartridge technology advancing rapidly, consumer preferences are shifting. Greg Shoenfeld, vice president of operations for cannabis market-intelligence firm BDS Analytics, reports that distillate cartridge sales now exceed oil cartridges in Colorado, and California’s vape sales are expected to follow suit. Increased purity and resulting product viscosity is driving rapid advances in vape technology, and consumers are anticipating and expecting innovations.
Gilbert is surprised at the high level of expectation among vape consumers when it comes to technological advances. “Consumers expect a lot of innovation. There is an expectation that technology is changing rapidly, so there is a fair amount of openness to trying something new,” she says.
A recently completed BDS survey highlights additional opportunities in cartridge and ancillary vape sales. In a demographically representative sample of U.S. adults over the age of 21, approximately 22 percent report using cannabis in some form in the last six months. But an additional 38 percent—a key group known as “acceptors”—who hadn’t consumed in that time frame are open to it. One in three “acceptors” say they would consider a vaporizer or other type of inhaler. “There’s a huge market potential there,” Gilbert says.
Shoenfeld indicates vape sales show no sign of slowing in 2018. Driessen echoes that sentiment. “You’re seeing the rise in extracts. You’re seeing the rise in concentrates,” he says. “Colorado is the most advanced concentrate market in the world. By percentage of sales, half of the marijuana that’s sold in Colorado isn’t a flower product. It’s a non-flower product. That’s not unique to here. It’s happening all over the world. And we know that once people get turned on to non-flower products, generally speaking, it becomes a large part of their consumption habits.”
To read the full article in Cannabis Dispensary's June 2018 issue, click here.
Top photo courtesy of O.pen Vape
