Flavor influences which edible marijuana you purchase

Everyone has a favorite flavor. Instinctively, you know what it is, whether it’s candy, soda, or popsicles. However, that may be changing when it comes to cannabis edibles and beverages, as sales data shows that certain flavors are better for consumers’ wallets.

The company identified 73 different flavors currently sold in the market, ranging from hibiscus to red velvet. According to data from Headset Analytics, customers purchase more citrus-flavored cannabis drinks and unspecified flavored gummies than any other flavored product by a wide margin.

Chart courtesy of Headset Analytics

Raspberries and watermelon are also very popular with customers. But it’s not for nothing that citrus and lemonade-flavored drinks accounted for about 24.2% of beverage sales last month.

“Citrus flavors are a great way to mask the residual flavor of the cannabis without making the product overly sweet,” Liz Connors, Director of Analytics at Headset, told The Fresh Toast. “Plus, I think citrus probably pairs better with the herbal flavor of THC than other flavors.”

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These taste preferences change with the market, but for seemingly unclear reasons. Canadian markets are leaning much more heavily toward milk chocolate edibles than American markets. Milk chocolate accounts for more than 50% of all edible sales in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. But legal state markets focus primarily on cannabis gummies and candies, with flavor preferences varying by state.

Chart courtesy of Headset Analytics

Connors hopes retailers and manufacturers will use this data to find opportunities in the market. “For example, if berry flavors are common in gummy bears but not in candies, that could be an area for a manufacturer to make flavor innovations,” she said.

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Fruity flavors such as melon, pomegranate and blueberry were generally more expensive than dessert flavors such as chocolate, peanut butter or snickerdoodle. But neither the cheapest flavor, honey, nor the most expensive, eucalyptus, were consumers’ first choice.

Chart courtesy of Headset Analytics

So what is more important to customers: the price or the taste?

“I suspect price is the main factor in taste,” Connors said. “This is mainly because, unlike a pack of Haribo gummy bears, you are likely to only eat one or two cannabis gummy bears. Even if it’s not your favorite flavor, you probably won’t consume many of them.”