pre-roll market report

State dollar growth grew at 13.4% vs P3M, which sounds incredibly impressive…until you see pre-roll category growth at 33.4% (dollar) and 35.2% (units). Those are unbelievable growth numbers from a single quarter, making it one of the fastest-growing categories in New York cannabis. Growth of this magnitude in a single quarter suggests that consumers are not only spending more, but they’re also buying pre-rolls more often. Whether driven by convenience, expanding product variety, or increased adoption of infused products, pre-rolls continue to outpace the broader market by a HUGE margin. If this trend continues, pre-rolls will just become an even bigger piece of New York’s market going forward.

Competition in New York’s pre-roll market is not slowing down. Over the last three months, another 26 brands jumped into the mix, bringing the total to 526 active pre-roll brands statewide. What’s really shocking though is that there were 2049 SKUs added in just 3 months, bringing the total to 15,971. That’s an incredible amount of innovation in a VERY short period of time. Much of the growth seems to be driven by brands experimenting with different sizes, pack counts, infused products, strains, and even price points as they work to identify what resonates most with New York consumers. With nearly 16,000 products competing for shelf space, standing out has never been more challenging. Competition like that makes product quality, differentiation, and operation efficiency more important than ever before.

One of the biggest surprises in New York’s market is how quickly consumers have embraced infused products. Over the P3M, infused pre-rolls generated $54.1million in sales and captured 52.2% of the category, compared to $49.5 million and 47.8% for traditional pre-rolls. We see that happening in mature markets, while newer markets take years to see infused outsell traditional. So it’s surprising to see it this soon in New York. Yes, legal rec sales technically started back on Dec. 30, 2022, but let’s be serious…New York’s rec market has been an absolute dumpster fire and is only now figuring things out. Now that the legal market is finding its footing, consumers are rapidly gravitating towards those infused products. If the current trajectory continues, infused pre-rolls will likely continue widening the gap as this East Coast juggernaut market matures.

Every product in the top 20 best-selling pre-roll SKUs (based on revenue) is a multipack. Every. Single. One. That is an insane level of consistency and a very clear signal that consumers are gravitating toward value, convenience, and repeatable experiences over single pre-roll purchases. Whether it’s five-packs, ten-packs, or multi-unit formats, shoppers seem to be looking for products that deliver more sessions in a single purchase while keeping the CPU lower. For brands who are newer to the New York space, this is an incredibly important takeaway. While single units still have their place, the data shows that the way to win at retail is to offer some sort of multipack. Brands that can pair high-quality flower with the right pack format will be way better off and well positioned to capture consumer attention.