Cannabis Consumer Price Index: Executive Summary – August 2019 (Released October 2019)

The one-of-a-kind Cannabis Market CPI is a benchmark of retail sales pricing across cannabis products in select legalized U.S. markets. The index currently reports sales in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon, states that generated more than 60 percent of legalized U.S. sales in 2018. Underlying pricing data is the compilation of actual dispensary transactions captured by BDS Analytics’ GreenEdge™ Retail Sales Tracking Platform.

The baseline of measurement represents the launch of adult-use sales in California in January of 2018. In order to standardize retail pricing data for Flower and Concentrates, all transactions are normalized to price per gram.

For Ingestible, Topicals and Vapes, sales are converted to a price per unit measure. BDS Analytics’ CPI is unique in its ability to index retail pricing across all product categories, a significant insight considering the rapid market growth largely driven by branded products in all categories.

BDS Analytics’ CPI for August 2019 stands at 104.01, representing less than two-tenths of a percent decrease from the trailing month. Compared to August 2018, the CPI average retail prices have declined nearly three percent. Year-to-date average retail prices have declined less than one percent.

The index score is positive for Pre-Rolled joints, Ingestible and Topicals, indicating an increase of the average retail price of these product categories relative to January 2018. Other product categories, such as Flower, Vape, and Dabbable Concentrates (referenced in table as ‘Concentrates – No Vape’), have negative CPI scores. The average retail prices of Flower, Dabbable Concentrates, and Vape all increased by one point, when compared to the trailing month.

GreenEdge® Insights: In August 2019, legal cannabis sales at dispensaries across Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Nevada reached a combined $639.2 million, a four percent increase from the trailing month and a 21 percent increase from the prior August. After years of declining flower prices, a temporary floor appears to have been reached in the fourth-quarter of 2018. Thus far in 2019 we have seen a rebound as flower prices have steadily increased over the past few months. The phenomenon of higher flower prices isn’t geographically isolated as the trend is evident in multiple markets.

With significant flower production having been allocated for to extraction to feed Concentrates, Vape and other product categories, the supply of flower for smoking has diminished over time.

Recent negative news for the vape category could have a chilling effect and could further boost demand for flower in the near term. With limited supply, should demand for flower continue to strengthen we can anticipate further increases in flower pricing.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the CPI for a recap of Cannabis sales trends with September data.

For further details about these insights and more, please contact [email protected]

About BDS Analytics:

Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, BDS Analytics provides businesses with comprehensive, actionable, and accurate cannabinoid market intelligence and consumer research. The company provides a holistic understanding of the cannabinoid market by producing insights from tracking and categorizing millions of individual consumer transactions, extensive and detailed consumer research and generating market-wide cannabinoid industry financial projections, all delivered through its market-leading GreenEdge® platform. To learn more about how you can utilize BDS Analytics’ industry-leading market research, please visit www.bdsanalytics.com.

BDS Analytics’ have an exclusive media partnership with CFN Media, the leading financial network in Cannabis.

About Mark Collins

Mark Collins is the VP of Business Development at CFN Media. Before joining the cannabis industry in 2016, Mark was global managing director of in-home coffee machines at Jacobs Douwe Egberts. During his time in cannabis, Mark started up several successful cannabis companies before joining CFN Media. At CFN Media, Mark helps companies seeking capital to achieve outstanding results using CFN Media’s own media platforms. Mark holds his MBA from London Business School and lives with his family in California.