Cannabis Boom Shows No Signs of Quieting in Colorado

Concentrate sales growth trounces flower, industry grows by 35 percent

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Douglas Brown, Contact High Communications, doug@contacthighco.com  303-241-0141

Boulder, Colorado — April 14, 2016 — Colorado’s cannabis dispensaries generated $93 million in February sales this year, a 35% increase over last February, according to data provided by Boulder-based BDS Analytics, a firm that tracks retail cannabis sales from point-of-sale data and provides market trend data to dispensaries, grows and producers. February sales also rose a healthy 5% over January despite January having two more days.

Significant differences in growth trends among product categories continued in February, said Roy Bingham, CEO and co-founder of BDS Analytics.

“Cannabis-infused edible products and concentrates grew over last February at much faster rates than flower, increasing 67% and 105%, respectively,” said Bingham. Flower—the green buds most commonly associated with marijuana—grew at a healthy 16% rate, but the relatively slower pace meant that flower’s share of total cannabis sales dropped.

“In February 2015, flower accounted for 70% of cannabis retail dollars,” Bingham noted. “This February, that number fell to 59%. Over the same time period, concentrates’ share jumped from 16% to 24%.”

Among the findings:

• More than 97% of this February’s sales — $90 million — came from cannabis products, with the rest coming from accessories.
• The 12 months ending February 2016 constituted the first year-long period in which retail cannabis product sales surpassed $1 billion in CO, exceeding that threshold by $16 million. The same one-year period ending last February reached $717 million, resulting in a year-over-year increase of 42 percent.
• Med most definitely is not dead. Medical dispensaries increased by 18% compared to February 2015, hauling in $34 million.
• Adult use (recreational) retailers grew much faster, however. They are up 48% compared to a year ago, at $58 million.
• Adult use now claims 63% of the total, up from 57% one year ago.
• Concentrate prices dropped per unit dropped 12%, while consumers paid 10% more for flower.

The sales growth of concentrates is remarkable in light of a range of measures. Consider:

• Flower units, measured in grams, rose just 5% from February 2015 to the same month this year in Colorado. But concentrates units, measured in individual packages sold, rocketed up 132% in the same period, from 293,000 to 680,000.
• The top-selling concentrates brand this February grew 158% in dollar sales and rose from second place in February 2015.
• The third and fourth positions this year were occupied by new entrants that roared ahead from no sales until April 2015.
• This year’s No. 5 brand grew a whopping 1244%, rising from the 18^th spot last year.
• Within the top 25 concentrates brands, only one shrank, nine were new entrants with no sales to compare against last February, and six saw quadruple-digit growth.

About BDS Analytics: Relying upon powerful technologies, partnerships with cannabis companies and a team of data veterans, BDS Analytics provides the cannabis industry with the most precise, reliable and sweeping data analysis in the marketplace. For most companies competing in the blossoming world of commercial cannabis, BDS Analytics’ GreenEdge™ service offers vital business information — essential intelligence for marketplace success.