The wholesale cannabis price guide for 2022

LeafLink Releases Its Wholesale Cannabis Price Guide: Here Are The Top Takeaways!

For LeafLink’s 2022 Wholesale Cannabis Pricing Guide, the company analyzed pricing data across 10 major US cannabis markets to help brands and retailers understand how 5 different product categories are priced. The report is designed to help brands and retailers buy and sell wholesale cannabis stock at the right price for their business and has proven to be an invaluable tool for the industry as a whole.

No one else in the industry can provide first-party pricing data at this scale (over 42% of all cannabis wholesale volume occurs on the platform). As such, LeafLink is uniquely positioned to share 2021 average wholesale prices for 5 major product categories, along with key insights into how pricing can impact sales performance and year-over-year price changes that show longer-term trends impacting the industry affect.

Now that we’ve shared why LeafLink is the ideal source for accurate wholesale cannabis pricing data, let’s review some key takeaways from the 2022 edition of the Wholesale Cannabis Pricing Guide. Download your copy of LeafLink for the full report.

Overall, wholesale cannabis prices fell in 2021 — but there are certainly exceptions by market and/or category. This may come as a surprise given the broader economic trends surrounding inflation in the United States, but several unique factors have impacted cannabis prices over the past year.

Firstly, new growers, growers and sellers entered the market in 2021, expecting further price growth as in 2020 (flower prices increased by 18% for the year). This put pressure on prices, pushing them down as supply and demand shifted.

Farmers also began investing more in technology to increase efficiency. This was a reaction to the increasing competition, but also to be able to withstand climatic fluctuations. As a result, there have been higher production levels and supply throughout the year.

While it is clear that legal cannabis is growing, it is impossible to ignore the elephant in the room; the ubiquitous illicit cannabis market. The expansion of the illegal market has taken market share away from regulated markets, which has put additional pressure on prices in 2021.

“The illegal market continued to grow in 2021 and of course in 2020 as well. So there’s been a big floral correction, particularly on the West Coast, as a result of…a big yield in 2020, continued growth in the illicit market, and many more inputs,” said Alex Feldman, general manager of Insights & Marketing Services at LeafLink.

Digging deeper into the categories, there are some interesting trends. Flower prices fell by around 6% in the guide’s 10 markets compared to 2020. Oklahoma and Michigan posted by far the most dramatic declines at -28% and -22% respectively. But not all markets showed price declines — Colorado Flower was up an average of 7% and Arizona was up 5%.

“What’s happening in newer states, if you think of Massachusetts, Michigan or Oklahoma, when a market is expanding or has recently flipped to allow for adult use, is a clamor for new entrances,” continued Feldman. “So in 2020 Michigan actually had significant shortages and then prices were high which led to new additions and that’s why you have more supplies now and there’s this drastic drop in flower prices in Michigan. A very similar dynamic happened in Oklahoma in 2021, resulting in very drastic price declines in those markets.”

“We see this happening in a lot of new markets where you have very attractive prices and there are bottlenecks, new suppliers, new farmers come in and they see the prices as attractive. If you’re not in a restricted license state, there is an overreaction and then the following year, which would be 2021, you have too much supply, too much cultivation, and that leads to a drastic drop in price.”

Cartridges were the only category that had higher average prices across the 10 markets, while cartridge average prices only increased 6%, which is an outlier compared to the other product categories. And that doesn’t mean prices are up in every state, either (cartridge prices in Michigan are down 17% year-over-year). Arizona led the growth, up 8% over 2020.

For concentrates, prices remained fairly stable, down 3% over the year. Oddly, most markets saw higher concentrate prices, but large drops of -27% and -16% for Oklahoma and Michigan saw the average fall significantly. Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon and Nevada all saw small single-digit increases in average concentrate prices.

Edibles and ingestibles have been one of the more consistent categories when it comes to pricing — at least with prices consistently falling. The average price of food and eatables fell 7% year over year, with nine out of ten markets reporting declines. Arizona was the only holdout up 4% year over year.

LeafLink analyzed a new category this year, namely beverages. They’ve emerged as a key product category over the past year, but are still in line with our categories overall, with an average decline of 6% from 2020. Beverage prices are up in Colorado and Arizona (up 5% and 3%, respectively). , but California, Michigan, Nevada and Washington all saw lower prices on average than last year.

Pre-rolls are the last category LeafLink analyzed for the report. While Alaska, Massachusetts and Washington all saw single-digit increases in average prices, Oregon saw the largest drop, with pre-roll prices down 15%.

When considering pricing, it is important to note that pricing for one category can and does affect other categories. None of these factors exist in isolation, and Feldman addressed this aspect as well.

“I think there needs to be some more research… to actually quantify this correlation.” [between pricing for different product categories] is. But since bulk flowers are an input to so many other products that are made as derivatives, there is this correlation.”

Download your copy of LeafLink for the full report.

WHOLESALE CANANBIS PRICES MOVE, READ MORE…

WHOLESALE MARIJUANA PRICES STABILIZE, DO WE SEE AN EFFICIENT MARKET?

OR..

WHOLESALE CANNABIS PRICES ARE EFFECTED, NOW WHAT?