Concentrates are currently the fastest growing cannabis product category in the legal industry according to data released earlier this week by Arcview Market Research. The projections are contained in a report by BDS Analytics called “Concentrates: The Hottest Product Category in Cannabis.”
The report shows that concentrates are expected to hit $2.9 billion in sales by the end of 2018, up 49 percent year over year. This makes cannabis concentrates the second largest market in the industry, only behind dried flower.
Concentrate sales are predicted to surpass flower sales by 2022 in size at $8.4 billion with flower expected to be at $8.5 billion.
“As the cannabis industry matures, we’ll likely see new product categories catch fire with consumers,” said Troy Dayton, CEO of the Arcview Group in a statement. “Concentrates are the first category to do that, but it’s just the beginning of a revolution in how cannabis is consumerd now that it’s becoming legal around the world.
Experts believe that concentrates provide methods of consumption that many new consumers are more comfortable with using than dried flower.
“For consumers, it’s a discreet and healthier choice that will likely make cannabis consumers of people who would never dream of inhaling smoke,” said Tom Adams, Editor in Chief of ArcView Market Research in the report. “That will cause the category to represent ever more retail display space, and likely spawn vape-only stores and on-premises consumption venues.”
Adams added that the major savings will be “at the agriculture level, where warehouse and greenhouse grows designed to provide pretty buds give way to traditional outdoor growing of a commodity crop.”
“The cost savings—and broader consumer appeal of concentrates—will prove critical as the legal market struggles under the weight of heavy tax and regulatory loads to compete with the illicit market,” said Adams.
The concentrate market is expected to make up to 27 percent of all marijuana related sales in the United States, especially with vaporizer pens which have become an incredibly popular method of consumption. This is a huge jump from 2014 when concentrates made up only 10 percent of cannabis sales.
“Concentrates are the obvious future of cannabis because they allow for novel products such as oils, sauce, live rosin, tinctures, edibles, and topicals, which new consumers are more comfortable with than flower, as [it] removes the classic ‘stoner’ image from cannabis consumption,” Dr. Markus Roggen, VP for extraction at OutCo Labs near San Diego, told High Times.
Vaporizers are expected to make up 58 percent of concentrate product sales.
“Technology is revolutionizing a product category that began as hand-rubbed hash in the Middle East centuries ago,” said Adams.
“We believe the growth of the concentrate market will continue as the cannabis industry evolves and consumers look toward new and innovative delivery methods that fit their lifestyles.”
Credit:Source link