Hi there, and welcome to The Dealers Diary - my musings on the cannabis industry, California, and building Halara.
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In today's entry: A strain named LGBT | New menu images, real results | A message we're not editorializing | $1,000 hint #5
The Dealers Desk
Hey Dealers,
Last week we said Nick would do the proper deep dive on Lychee Goji Berry Tea, so here it is.
This is what our menu images look like on Weedmaps and Leafly now. We used to just show the package with a different colored label per strain. The switch to these bright, fruit-forward tiles is one of the small changes we're quietly crediting for the sales lift across all three states.
The strain's acronym is LGBT. That was on purpose. Nick built the name knowing exactly what it spelled, and we wanted to do something with it beyond a wink on the bag.
10% of profits from Lychee Goji Berry Tea go to LYRIC, the San Francisco center that's been serving LGBTQ youth since 1988 (housing support, mental health services, leadership programs for young people who need them). We’ve been doing this fundraise for the last 4 years I think (it’s felt like a lifetime) and it’s one of our favorite ones to do the whole year.
We're not going to pretend this is some massive corporate initiative. It's a percentage of one strain's profits going to a specific place during a month that matters. But we'd rather do something small and real than something big and performative, and LYRIC has been doing the work in SF for almost 40 years. If you want to learn more about what they do, lyric.org is the place.
Available in California. Find a shop near you.
(New York and WA (and the next state we’re entering this summer 😉 we promise you’ll get it next year too)
Onwards and upwards,
-Malcolm
What We're Seeing
Nobody writes press releases about menu images, but maybe they should. Most vape brands on Weedmaps look the same: white background, package, done. When we swapped to the colorful tiles (like the one above), the dispensary menus started doing some of the selling for us. A customer scrolling at 10pm stops on color before they stop on copy. It's not the only reason things are moving, but it's a bigger lever than we expected, and it's one of those details that most brands never bother with because it's not "marketing" in the way people usually think about marketing.
Dealers Choice
One of the most meaningful messages we've gotten. Our crew runs deep and I'll put them up against anyone's.
This came in from someone on one of our distribution teams. They suffer from a chronic illness, and during a flare-up, our solventless vape was the thing that helped.
Messages like this are what make all the hard work worth it. There are a lot of long days in this industry, a lot of logistics and compliance and paperwork, and it's easy to lose sight of why you're doing any of it.
Then something like this lands in your inbox and you remember. This is why we get up in the morning.
If you've had a similar experience with anything in our lineup, Nick's number is on the back of every package.
Quick Hits
Alabama opened its first legal dispensary. Amanda Taylor, an MS patient who spent 11 years pushing for it, made the first purchase at Callie's Apothecary in Montgomery. One store, 11 more coming this summer. MJBizDaily.
House passed the Farm Bill without saving hemp THC. The amendments that would have delayed the November ban on hemp-derived THC stayed blocked. No off-ramps. The cliff is real. Marijuana Moment.
Mystery hint #5, $1,000 still unclaimed. Nick's latest: "It's NOT a mixture of any of our High THC strains." That rules out a huge chunk of the menu. QR code on the bag to enter. Find it on Weedmaps.
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Halara · Emerald Triangle, CA
P.S - My Weekly Bops
P.S. What I'm listening to inspired from Argentinian Coffee Shops
