CCC Culture
Sep 17, 2023
As cannabis prices remain low, do some products still hold value?
2023 began with Colorado's cannabis market reaching an all-time low. The average price per pound in the marketplace was going for $658 as of January 1st, 2023. This is roughly a third of the all-time highest price of $2,007 achieved in 2015.
Here's the entire chart for context:
So what's to blame for the depressed market? Is it a larger economic issue for the United States? According to NPR, Personal spending rose by 1.8% in January, the same time the Colorado cannabis market hit an all-time low - so maybe there's more to the story.
Earlier this year, we had a chance to sit down with the CEO from Volta Fiore Genetics, Chris, and he has a different perspective about evolving weed prices.
"Let's not devalue cannabis" is the main message from Chris. We need to start taking the industry seriously and treating the plant with reverence for how special it is. "It's essential to get the plant into people's hands who care."
Chris went on to talk about how dynamic the cannabis community can be when deciding to make a purchase. He insists we'll pay premium money for a product if the experience is premium to match. Listen below for explanation:
Breaking down the value of a premium cannabis experience based on your personal situation is important. It's the same decision-making process that you'd associate with eating at an upscale restaurant or going to an event. It may not be in the everyday budget, but when you indulge, it should be something to savor, and something you feel you got your money's worth. Chris continues to talk about getting the right bang for your buck...
Listening to Chris continue, he makes a couple of key points to expand on. First, the importance of knowing the calibur of cannabis you're buying along with not losing passion for the details. This includes attributes like no pesticides, organically grown, rare genetics, or a grower who always demonstrates deep care for their consumers/patients. Those are just a few examples of business aspects that should garner respect, and in some cases, an increased price point to help support the increased effort.
Second, what other industry devalues its own products? When it comes to cannabis culture, especially within the United States, its origins heavily grew from the hippie movement of the 1960s and 70s. Two of the main staples of hippie culture included anti-consumerism and free love. These principles don't mesh with a modernized, legal, large-scale cannabis scene, and there's still a substantial presence of this thinking in the marketplace. So how do we preserve the positive intentions of the culture, while adjusting for the needs of capitalism? Chris offers commentary on this concept of evolving values:
When thinking of the evolved values of the legalized cannabis community and the market that comes with it, a new responsibility has emerged for the businesses involved - to not bastardize the integrity of the marketplace. Greed might be the biggest reason prices have continually declined in the Colorado marketplace. There's a lot of corporate money with ulterior motives entering the market, and the experience of the consumer is becoming secondary to profit margins. This is leading to short-cutting practices and bare-minimal investment into the materials used to cultivate. Many times, these same corporate-focused cannabis companies have extensive marketing budgets that may fool unseasoned, inexperienced consumers. Larger entities can also flood the market with these cheap-to-produce, low-quality pounds of flower, and cause more legitimate, high-quality companies to come down in price to compete.
It's an ugly cycle. To wrap this story up, here's a final clip from our interview with Chris from Volta Fiore. He explains the situational conflict between producing the best cannabis products and making the most money. He ends with an analogy comparing large cannabis brands to top 40 hits in music. Listen for yourself:
What do you think about current cannabis prices? Are you a budget shopper? Do you only buy certain reputable brands? Let us know in the comments.