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 busiest booth at the Network Show | Madelyn, then and now | Pink Lemonade Haze
The Dealers Desk
Hey Dealers,
Last week we were at the Network Show in LA, and I'm still buzzing from it. Tons of people were stopping through and coming up to us telling us how they’d seen us on this social media or this friend of theirs said they are hunting for the new strains. It was super busy - felt like one of the shows in NorCal in our backyard.
We didn't have the biggest booth there and we definitely didn't spend the most on it, but it was packed both days, nonstop, to the point where this is the only picture I got of it. People kept coming up all day to tell us ours was the busiest booth they'd seen!
the one photo I got, day two
The Up North team said the same thing after, that we drew more buyers over lunch than some of the big-spend booths did all day, because people came to see people they already knew. One of our buyer friends from a new large store chain told Eric we were one of their best brand intros in years, and we met tons of LA shops we're not in yet that we're talking to now, which is huge for us since LA has been one of the last big holdouts in California. There were also about 840 budtenders at the budtender event. That's real, and you can't buy it.
But my favorite part of the event was meeting an old Dealer friend from back in 2022! (spoiler alert: prepare yourself for pictures of young me)
Her name's Madelyn. I met her in the Central Valley back in 2022, when our boxes still looked like the ones in my hand here.
Central Valley, April 2022. Those are the original boxes.
At the show she walked up to our booth and took this one.
Network Show LA, September 2026. Same smile, better hats.
These days she works at a STIIZY store, and she still reps us over there anyway, which honestly I didn't know until she told me. What she said at the booth has stuck with me all week: "This is what we do it for. This is the community we're building." Then she went and told the people next to her where to find us on Reddit and on socials, like it was her job, which it very much isn't.
That's the part of this that's more than just weed to me. So thank you, Madelyn, and thank you to everyone who came by, and to Fig Farms next door for putting up with our line. We're excited to keep growing this thing with y'all.
Onwards and upwards,
-Malcolm
What We're Seeing
Fire OG is one of the most famous OGs in California, and almost nobody makes it in a cart. When we went looking this month, we found four brands besides us with a Fire OG vape on a California menu (Jetty, STIIIZY, PLUGplay and Sluggers). Raw Garden, Heavy Hitters, Kingpen and Select don't have one out right now, and a lot of what you'll see with "Fire" in the name (White Fire OG, Sweet Fire OG) is a different plant. Our theory is sourcing, since real Fire OG cuts are hard to keep true, and it's the same reason we pulled ours for a while before bringing it back this month. Nick wrote up who makes one and what's actually in each: Best Fire OG Carts in California.
Strain Spotlight
Pink Lemonade Haze is the one we were handing out at the Network Show, and it's now on our California distributor's menu as both a 510 cart and an AIO, so it should be showing up in shops. It's a hybrid in our High THC line, and it tastes like the name: fresh pink lemonade up front, sweet with a little tart edge, then cherry and raspberry come through the middle, and it finishes with that floral, herby Haze character. It plays uplifted and creative, so it's a daytime one for me. If you liked Super Lemon Haze or Cherry Haze, this is going to feel familiar. Ask your budtender, or find a shop near you.
Dealers Choice
Someone picked up a Gas Nana this summer and filled out our survey afterward, and here's what they wrote.
5/5 flavor, 5/5 smoothness, 5/5 packaging. Would buy again. Don't change. You all at Halara have been one of the only brands that has maintained consistent quality for value.
Verified Customer
We won't change. Thank you!
Quick Hits
California now makes shops hand over the COA if you ask. Newsom signed AB 1965, which also requires every product to be tested or retested and lets the DCC pull products off shelves for lab testing. Next time you want to see the lab results on something, the budtender has to show you. What's in it.
The DEA wants California's homework on rescheduling but isn't handing out the syllabus. DCC Director Clint Kellum says the DEA hasn't shown "any sort of interest" in guiding states, while still asking California for details on its medical program. His side of it.
Weekly Munchies
Turmeric ginger red lentil soup this week, for the first cold nights of fall.
Refer a Friend
If you've got a budtender friend who's been putting people onto us, send them this. Madelyn, this one's yours.
P.S - My Weekly Bops
P.S. California songs this week. Lodi is about being stuck in a Central Valley town, and California Love is for LA.
