When it comes to running a well functioning dispensary, one of the biggest challenges can be stocking a balanced menu. Cannabis consumers have a wide range of tastes and preferences when it comes to products and the most successful dispensaries have a wide selection to meet this need. When a dispensary can keep a consistent stock of products that a particular consumer likes, they can quickly become the only dispensary that consumer frequents. For those dispensaries looking to fill out their menu with crowd pleasing products, I recommend the following practices.
Diverse Strains
Cannabis comes in many varieties, and each strain has a slightly different effect on the user. One of the biggest mistakes I see in new dispensaries is a menu that is weighted heavily toward one type of cannabis. The grower or manager of the collective may prefer Diesel varieties, or Haze, and choose similar strains repeatedly. This can severely limit your potential client pool to only those cannabis users who enjoy that one variety. When stocking your flower and concentrates, look for a range of genetic varieties, and be careful not to have too much bias in one direction or the other.
Consistent but New
Cannabis consumers want a consistent supply of strains that work well for them. But sometimes using one strain all the time can lead to decreased efficacy of that particular strain. Keeping a rotation of similar strains in one category can help keep your client base intrigued with new strains, without sacrificing consistency. If you have patients who really enjoy the strain Grape Ape. Rather than keeping Grape Ape in stock at all times, you can stock it regularly, but rotate it with similar strains like Lavender or Blackberry Kush, or new strains with similar genetics.
Consumer Feedback
Successful dispensaries are responsive to their consumers’ purchasing habits. Tracking the strains and products that your consumers buy can be helpful when deciding what to purchase again. However, this type of tracking does not tell you about the consumers you may have lost by not having the right product in the first place. Giving your consumers an avenue to give you feedback on your products and request ones that you do not have can be a great way to find out what your particular client base is looking for.
Edible and Topical Options
The fastest growing demographic of cannabis users are baby boomers, and many of them are less interested in smoking cannabis than using an edible or topical product. Having a wide variety of edible and topical products can help to bring in this growing demographic. When choosing edible products, look for both sugary treats that appeal to the sweet tooths out there, and the more medicinal products like capsules and tinctures for those looking for exact dosing and a more clinical experience.
When in Doubt, Ask for Help
For those looking for more in depth information on how to create a balanced dispensary menu, seek out help from people with industry experience. My practice, Mindful Cannabis Consulting offers consulting and dispensary staff trainings on just this topic. Whether you are just starting out or looking to optimize your existing dispensary, a little help can go a long way.
Christian Hageseth, founder of American Cannabis Partners
His company, Green Man Cannabis, has won the Cannabis Cup four times and he has been a partner at five dispensaries and six grow operations. He is currently a partner at two dispensaries and two grow operations and he is a founding partner of a medical research group in Israel. Christian Hageseth has years of experience working with cannabis in a number of capacities that has culminated in a keen eye for understanding the cannabis industry. We sat down with Hageseth to learn more about some of his expectations for the industry’s future.
Cannabis Industry Journal: Can you discuss why you decided to take your research group to Israel?
Christian Hageseth: Obviously the United States has barriers to medical research on the plant, so it is seriously lacking the ability to discover more about the plant. We know the NIH [National Institutes of Health] has been helping Dr. Raphael Mechoulam in Israel to study cannabis and THC for the past 35 years, even though this is not permitted in the United States. Israel is willing to allow the research in an open format. We will be able to get an independent review board and the ability to work with institutions in Israel.
Christian Hageseth, founder of American Cannabis Partners, Green Man Cannabis and the Colorado Cannabis Ranch and author of “Big Weed”
CIJ: What kind of research are you looking to accomplish?
Christian: We are researching what cannabis formulation and delivery mechanism would work better than what is available for certain ailments. The research should initiate in March with the goal of reaching clinical trials in the future. We are looking to study the treatment of five ailments with cannabis: migraines, joint pain, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome and psoriasis.
CIJ: How do you think your research will help people?
Christian: I own dispensaries, and I see people come in and ask for advice on how to treat their insomnia or migraines all the time. We want to be able to recommend something that will accurately treat them. Simply recommending an indica or sativa strain is such a hollow answer for people that are actually in physical pain and need precise treatment. We want to be able to provide the real answers to people seeking help.
The Colorado Cannabis Ranch will be the first cultivation center in Colorado to offer educational tours, similar to a brewery or winery
CIJ: Switching gears a little, how is progress on the Colorado Cannabis Ranch?
Christian: We are ready to break ground on the Colorado Cannabis Ranch (the Weedery) in the beginning of March this year. We expect greenhouses at the Ranch to be operational by July along with a summer concert series a little later.
CIJ: Looking at the cannabis industry as a whole, where do you think innovation will come from in the near future?
Christian: Emerging medical technologies will have the greatest impact on the industry. Nanoparticle delivery systems for sublingual drug delivery are one example of biotechnology that I foresee having a major impact. I can expect some major innovations in some of the process technology around extraction. The technology around extracting specific and separate cannabinoids in particular will get refined more and more. The industry as a whole and market expansion will be driven by product development.
While nothing has changed in the legislation, it produces some confusion for small cannabis business owners and publications alike that are in compliance with state and local laws when running ads involving cannabis. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board’s frequently asked questions page on their website explicitly contradicts federal law.
One of the questions on that webpage asks: “May I use direct mail to households and inserts delivered via the Seattle Times and other publications?” And the answer provided by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board states: “Yes, inserts may not contain coupons.” This statement is clearly contradictory to federal law and to the memo sent by the U.S. Postal Service.
According to David Paleschuck, director of licensing and brand partnerships at DOPE Magazine, thinks this confusion will effect mainly small businesses. “As a business owner this tells me that it is OK to publish in newspapers like the Seattle Times which we all know is not directly delivered using the USPS.”
The memo does not directly affect DOPE Magazine’s distribution because it is not subscription-based. “We distribute via retail through dispensaries and recreational stores so it is not mailed directly to our readers,” Paleschuck says. “This will however affect many of our advertisers that are featured in subscription-based publications; Those companies and brands will not be able to advertise in publications sent through the postal service and thus non-subscription-based publications will pick up the slack.”
“States like Washington have very vague guidelines for marketing cannabis,” says Paleschuck. “There needs to more clarity for state and federal guidelines on marketing for cannabis businesses.” Moving forward, regulators will have to clarify these guidelines to determine how cannabis businesses can stay compliant.
Dawn Roberts, marketing executive at O.penVAPE, believes the memo will have a number of implications for her marketing strategies. O.penVAPE operates in nine states, manufacturing and selling oil cartridges and vape pens. “We are responsible for booking the advertising for all of our licensees to identify the best opportunities and provide support and direction for advertising and promoting their business,” says Roberts. “This [the U.S. Postal Service memo] affects our considerations for developing marketing strategies for all of the nine states we are in with regard to print publications.”
Looking at how the effects will impact their business development, Roberts needs to revisit every print publication they advertise in and check to see if it is subscription-based. “As a marketer for a brand that has a national footprint, I need to reevaluate my strategies for 2016 and look into certain publications that are subscription based,” Roberts adds. “We need to figure out how this will affect our marketing strategies for 2016.”
While this confusion gets sorted out, dispensaries and other cannabis businesses need to reevaluate their advertising and promotional strategies to stay compliant with federal and state laws.
Oregon was the second state to legalize medical marijuana in 1998 behind California that introduced legislation measures two years earlier in 1996. In the past two decades, Oregon has grown its medical market, treating more patients and producing exponentially more cannabis. Since October 1st of 2015, Oregon’s recreational sales have been made legal, creating potential opportunities for dispensaries to target this emerging market.
In that first week of recreational sales alone, dispensaries in Oregon made over $11 million in revenue. That figure is more than double what Colorado made in its first week and significantly larger than Washington’s figures posted.
The exterior storefront of PureGreen in Northeast Portland, Oregon
Matt Walstatter, president and founder of PureGreen, a dispensary located in Northeast Portland, Oregon, says that while recreational customers are limited to seven grams of flower per day (no concentrates or edibles yet), they have noticed an uptick in sales of certain strains.
“Up until October 1st of this year, our sales percentages have been very consistent with about 66% to 72% flower sales since we opened and around 20% concentrates and 10% edibles, with the remainder consisting of topicals and non-medicated products,” says Walstatter. “Now we have an influx of a new type of customer so we do around 80% of sales in flower since the introduction of recreational sales on October 1st.”
When analyzing the top-selling strains, Walstatter’s figures show an inclination of customers and patients to prefer high-THC strains when buying flower. Girl Scout Cookies, a very high THC, low CBD strain, consistently sells the most at over 2000 grams per month. “People that smoke flower generally want high-THC strains, while people that seek CBD overwhelmingly do not smoke as much and prefer ingesting edibles, tinctures, capsules or other products with low THC content,” adds Walstatter.
The lobby at PureGreen
PureGreen keeps a select few high-CBD strains on their shelves, including Cannatonic, which is known for its approximate 1:1 ratio of THC to CBD. “Out of twenty five strains on my shelves, I usually keep two or three high-CBD strains because they have their niche, even if they are less sought after, it is certainly worthwhile to carry them,” says Walstatter.
“Because Oregon has such a well established cannabis culture with less novice customers than other markets, our more popular strains are consistent over multiple months so we built a brand around knowledge and education,” Walstatter says. “Our budtenders usually come from a background involving the plant whether they were involved in cultivation, trimming or processing, and then they go through extensive training to be able to recommend certain strains for different ailments or preferences.”
Walstatter offered some tips for dispensary owners and employees at the Las Vegas Marijuana Business Conference in November where he sat on a panel with other industry experts called What Patients and Consumers Want: Strain Trends, Product Mix & CBD vs. THC. “Understanding your customer’s needs and their buying habits plus properly managing your inventory is the key to success,” says Walstatter. “We have a couple of exclusive growers that went through an extensive review process, they tend to rotate through different strains while we have some grower-specialists that grow only one strain very consistently.”
Exterior view of PureGreen dispensary in Portland, Oregon
Walstatter prides himself in his team’s exceptional customer service. “People do business with people they know, like and trust, so authenticity is very important to us,” he adds. “Over delivering on value in the form of knowledge, expertise and service is crucial to growing your brand and business.” Having a high quality product mix, knowledgeable staff and inviting atmosphere are a few of the ingredients to running a successful dispensary.
“It can take up to six months or longer to bring a new strain from seed to sale, so if it is a popular strain, it is very important to have a backup grower,” Walstatter adds. He likens his dispensary to a farm-to-table restaurant where the menu is constantly changing: “This time of year, there are some greenhouse and outdoor crops that do well on the shelves but strains can go in and out of season.”
While edibles and concentrates are not yet available for recreational sales, state regulators are closely monitoring other state’s rules and progress to map out a timeline for their introduction. This would effectively create another new emerging market, opening up potential opportunities for dispensaries in Oregon to diversify.
Cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries face a variety of ever-changing regulations that vary between states. The cannabis industry is notoriously inconsistent with regulations and as new legislation changes the rules so often, it can be difficult for businesses to keep up and stay compliant.
CannaScore provides a cannabis compliance auditing system that takes an inspector through questions around the operation, flagging areas that are out of compliance with state regulations. CannaScore works in Washington, Oregon and Colorado, and has plans to provide its services in Nevada and Maryland soon.
Various screenshots of an audit being performed with CannaScore
After co-founding DANK, a dispensary located in Colorado, Kush Bottles Colorado, a marijuana child-safe packaging company, and Denver Consulting Group, license-to-sale consulting company for the marijuana industry, Greg Gamet co-founded CannaScore after finding third party compliance audits to be lengthy, time-consuming and inefficient. The company developed the program and a mobile app within one year and beta-tested it for another six months.
“We are trying to stay in code with city and state regulations, along with the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division [MED], who finally has enough money to go out and enforce those laws. CannaScore identifies areas of concern and allows business owners to take corrective actions before problems ensue,” says Gamet.
The home screen of the app, CannaScore, on an iPad
According to Gamet, some of the biggest areas of concern for business owners involve making sure employees and day-to-day operations follow the extensive rules set forth by state and local governments. “The MED wants to make sure there is no hidden ownership [or] diversion of the product, and that dispensaries are following the rules, especially when it concerns public safety,” he says. “CannaScore can help businesses get a great overview on how they are operating within these rules that are enforced not only by the MED, but local police and fire departments, local health departments, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture.” The program will be available to other qualified consulting services to use through licensing agreements.
An Audit Summary Report prepared for Cannabis Investors Group
The overall score, much like a FICO or Dun and Bradstreet score, rate an individual’s or business’ credit score, which helps business owners, banks, landlords and other stakeholders know what level of compliancy a cannabis business is operating. It also keeps a compliancy record on hand if a business is required to prove to a governing body its willingness to follow the rules.
In performing dispensary, grow, infused products, and MIP kitchen audits, CannaScore can give the consulting company that is performing the audit the ability to assist in the correction of any and all violations. “Once a violation has been found, the consulting company can work with the customer to get it corrected immediately, which will increase revenues,” says Gamet.
“Because rules and regulations change so often it can be very difficult to stay on top of managing everything that goes into staying compliant,” Gamet adds. “Keeping compliant in the cannabis industry is a full time job and CannaScore can make it easy.”
As the industry grows and regulators hammer out details in legislation, compliance will remain an important part of any cannabis business. Staying in code with local laws and state regulations can make or break a business.
The Herbery, a dispensary with two locations in Vancouver, Washington, is currently awaiting medical endorsements from the state for both locations. The two co-founders, Jim Mullen and Rick Zahler, found a credit union to work with them, Salal Credit Union in Seattle. “There are five dispensaries in the Western part of Vancouver, so it is quite a saturated market,” says Jim Mullen. “But we have drawn considerable business and are very happy with the success of our two locations.”
A view inside the The Herbery
It has not always been like that, says Mullen. There are several key ingredients that go into launching and operating a successful dispensary, all of which pose significant barriers to entry in an extremely competitive retail market. Rick Zahler won the second and third positions in Vancouver for the state i502 retail licensing lottery. Zahler has more than 40 years of experience in franchising restaurants, a background that gives him a competitive advantage in scaling up his business.
Mullen and Zahler formed a partnership in early 2014 and by that summer they had finalized their lease agreement, converting an old restaurant into their flagship store. They hired local architects, contractors, and CPA’s and began looking for staff. “We set out to find the best people who could provide a level of customer service that this industry needs to be recognized as a mainstream business,” adds Mullen.
“We are changing the perception that you have to go into some back alley store to buy your pot,” he says. “We have a very attractive, well-lit storefront; we get complimented on the look of our stores all the time, one woman called us the Nordstrom’s of dispensaries.”
Before the doors opened, Mullen and Zahler worked long and hard to find growers, manufacturers and processors that met their standards. “We wanted to fill our display cases and shelves with premium cannabis, so we found really high-quality indoor, outdoor and greenhouse grows across the state,” says Mullen. “We go out and do site visits to see firsthand what nutrients they use, along with their standards and practices, to really size up our suppliers and verify they are giving us safe and high-quality products.”
“Our competition received a lot of media coverage and brand recognition early on. We had to side-step that with heavy guerilla marketing including handing out cards and flyers on street corners,” says Mullen. “We continued to push our social media marketing campaigns, slowly building a clientele with quality products, affordable prices and good customer service.”
Of all the roadblocks they hit, Mullen said the toughest aspect of getting started has been simply “letting people know that we opened and where we are.”
“There are fairly strict marketing rules, and staying compliant is difficult when you are trying to get your name out there,” Mullen adds. “We have been doing what we can with billboards and ads in magazines, but really word of mouth has gotten us far.”
A bud tender can give recommendations on different strains or advice on consuming edibles
Looking forward, Mullen wants the ability to market in a manner that is similar to other mainstream businesses. He is also excited to get endorsed to sell medical cannabis. “With so many people seeking high-CBD products for a variety of conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic pain, anxiety, and more, we want to help patients get access to the medicine they need.”
As cannabis continues to be studied for its true benefits, Mullen anticipates significant advances in knowledge to occur within a very short timeframe.
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