Hi there, and welcome to The Dealers Diary - my musings on the cannabis industry in California, New York and Washington, and building Halara.
If you missed past emails, I recommend checking out the Dealers page where you can see the past emails I sent.
In today's entry: the before and after I never sent | six months since the rebrand | Strawberry Stray
The Dealers Desk
Hey Dealers,
Six months ago we put the new bags out in California. New look, the accent on the á, all of it. I've talked about the rebrand in this newsletter five separate times now and I just realized I never once showed you the actual before and after, which is a funny thing to leave out.
What's on the shelf in California right now.
Nothing inside the box changed this year. Same oil, same hardware, same Nick standing over it being difficult about it. What changed is that you can see the pen through the front of the bag now, and a person walking past the case actually stops and picks it up.
Which is the whole thing, really. More people are finding us, and the new look is what's getting us noticed. Six months of watching that happen has been lovely.
So here's the six month check-in, and I'll keep it to one number. California is up about 71% since February!
Fro those who know the CA market y’all know its flat to down in this time so this crew right here is gaining ground fast! We’ve jumped from something like #34 brand to #23 over the last year in CA and that’s without a big LA presence like the larger brands out there. But that’s changing as we’re entering that city with next months Network Show and we’re gunning to break the #20 spot by end of year.
I haven’t seen the full data yet but I’d put money that we’re the fastest growing CA vape brand right now thanks to the Dealers here.
So go tell your friends!
Also in that same time the number of Dealers reading this is up about 128% since February!! To everyone who found us somewhere in the last six months and signed up, welcome!
Onwards and upwards,
-Malcolm
PS- the Munchies recipe this week is fire. I cooked it last night. Go check it out
What We're Seeing
The new box is also where the promise gets printed, and you can't take it back. Nick ordered the Strawberry Stray packaging on April 8th with "proceeds benefit Humane Society" already on the front, and the product didn't go on sale until this month. Four months between the promise and any idea whether anyone would buy the thing. That's the part the "brands that give back" roundups never cover, because they run after the fact, once the total is known. My test for whether a program is real is stuff you can check from outside: a named recipient, a defined mechanic, and a history going back more than one release. By that test the best one in California isn't ours, it's Jetty's Shelter Project, which has given more than $1.2 million in product to over 1,320 cancer patients since 2014. I wrote the whole thing up, including the two releases of ours that never shipped, in what it actually costs to be a brand that gives back.
Strain Spotlight
Here's Nick on this one:
Strawberry Stray is our fourth charity release, a sativa at 90% THC running limonene, myrcene and caryophyllene, which is why it comes across bright and sweet instead of sharp. Ripe strawberry on the inhale, and the exhale stays just as smooth with no harsh edge at the top of the pull, which is the whole thing we're going for with naturally smooth. It's California only and it's a 510 cartridge only this time, there's no all-in-one version of it, and every cart sold supports the Animal Humane Society.
California only, 510 cart only. Find a shop carrying it.
Dealers Choice
Somebody put a Forbidden Roses cart next to its collector card and posted it to their story this week. That was our Q1 charity release and people are still photographing it in August.
Thanks you for sharing the best sauce 🥵 @gohalara
Verified Customer
Quick Hits
The hemp THC fight got pushed back a month: following up on the alcohol retailers lobbying this same bill last week, the Senate voted Saturday to move the federal ban on hemp-derived THC products from November 12 to December 11. A one-month reprieve for a $28.8 billion industry that's been crowding into licensed shelf space with way less testing behind it. MJBizDaily has the details.
Curaleaf is going hostile on Aurora for $272 million: $4 a share in stock plus 75 cents cash, after two letters Aurora never answered, so they're taking it straight to Aurora's shareholders. Biggest M&A swing this industry has seen in a while. The filing writeup.
Weekly Munchies
Teriyaki chicken rice bowls this week, half an hour and it feeds four, which is about my ceiling on a weeknight.
Refer a Friend
This list has more than doubled since February and almost none of that was me. If your shop still doesn't carry us, send this to whoever handles ordering there and tell them to ask for us by name.
Halara · Emerald Triangle, CA
P.S - My Weekly Bops
P.S. Two from me this week.
Alex sent his five last issue and y'all actually clicked them, so I'd like to keep this a two way thing. Reply with whatever you've got on repeat and I'll run a few of yours next time.