Solving Consumer Needs with Product Innovation & Minor Cannabinoids

Product innovation has fueled subcategory USD sales growth. For example, infused pre-rolls and solventless concentrates delivered +10% and +9% USD sales share growth in their respective product subcategories from Q2 2021 to Q2 2023. But what impact do products leveraging minor cannabinoids have on sales performance?

Minor Cannabinoids are a hot trend that brands and retailers alike have adopted in their marketing and product innovation. Unfamiliar with minor cannabinoids (e.g., CBN, CBG)? Check out our Spring 2023 webinar on Modern Adaptogens & Minor Cannabinoids and feel free to reference Leafwell’s overview.

Minor cannabinoids are a blessing to brands, manufactures, and retailers. They present a lever that each can use to communicate, engage, and market to consumers. Minor cannabinoids have become a tool to convey mood & effect messaging directly to consumers, in a manner that they easily understand.

Example: Leading Arizona edible brand OGeez

There have been notable innovations with how brands signal to consumers through mood and effect messaging, and incorporation of minor cannabinoids has been crucial to these innovations.

BDSA Retail Sales Tracking, Q2 2021 to Q2 2023, showcases +16% growth in the quantity of mood & effect positioned edible products in retail (e.g., dispensaries). Even more impressive is the emergence of minor cannabinoid edible products, especially in the candy subcategory. In particular, products highlighting CBN or CBG (two of many other minor cannabinoids) delivered +173% growth in USD share in the edibles category.

Yes, this growth is impressive, but it doesn’t mean you should forget about the core product categories. A majority of cannabis sales still stem from flower and vape product categories. The impact of minor cannabinoids in the edibles category showcases the transformation occurring in the industry – especially across the product landscape.

Products like infused pre-rolls, solventless extracts, and minor cannabinoid infused edibles make up a much larger share of their respective categories in the current U.S. cannabis industry. These rising subcategories illustrate the importance of marketplace data and primary market research to develop actionable insights.  Fellow BDSA customers are mastering this magic sauce to develop new product formulations, revise their product portfolio, optimally market to target consumers, and increase market share in an ever-growing competitive industry.

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Need some more insights to chew on? Check out our recent blog in the Industry Consumer Shift Series.

Want to learn more about how BDSA can serve as your data & industry partner? Request a demo.