Convenience stores, smoke shops leaving CBD behind

CBD products were once buzzworthy in the hemp industry, but their lack of buzz has convenience stores and smoke shops shifting gears toward intoxicating hemp products, according to data from Management Science Associates.

MSA surveyed roughly 50 distributors and 15 of the top 21 wholesalers with information through October 2023.

CBD

CBD products exploded in 2021, but just as quickly came back down to earth in January 2022. The overall decline continued, despite a late bump in sales towards the end of 2022.

Between third quarter 2022 and third quarter 2023,  MSA found that CBD sales plunged by 68%. However, the number of stores carrying CBD products has grown from 80% to 83%.

Through October 2023, the top-selling CBD forms were gummies, vapes and topicals, accounting for 58% dollar share, according to the MSA data. “Moist/Snuff’s share has increased significantly vs 2022, while topicals and vape have declined,” the firm added.

The analysis from MSA suggests that consumers felt disillusioned by the grandiose promises of over-the-counter CBD. They purchased the products, but the items failed to resolve the issues that consumers bought them for. This hurt repeat business, and demand for CBD products dried up.

Deltas

Instead, stores have ramped up sales of intoxicating hemp products, characterized by Delta-8, Delta-9 and Delta-10 THC levels. In the same period analyzed above, total dollars for Delta-10 products via convenience stores and smoke shops grew by 57%. Delta-8 products grew by 58%, and hemp-derived Delta-9 products grew 450%.

The number of stores carrying these Delta-9 products has also grown. Just over one-quarter (26%) of the stores surveyed sold Delta-9 in 2022, but 33% of stores reported carrying the products by the end of the third quarter 2023.

This growth has attracted the attention of regulated cannabis companies who see the distribution channel as a great way to bring in additional revenue. Several have launched versions of these products through these channels while also selling regulated-THC products in dispensaries. Green Market Report previously wrote about companies that straddle both worlds, such as 1906 and Wana Brands, while the subject continues to divide the industry.

Independent stores lead the way for overall sales of intoxicating hemp products compared with chain stores. Chain stores beat independents when it comes to stocking CBD and Delta-10, but independents held a bigger share of the Delta-8, Delta-9 and THC-O products.

State sales

Sales for CBD products by state vary widely. For example, MSA reported that sales of the products in Louisiana grew by 150% and, in New York, they grew by 83%. In Rhode Island, however, they fell 215%, followed by Vermont, which fell by 130%, and Connecticut by 117%.

Texas was by far the leader with regard to sales in terms of units sold, followed by Kentucky in a distant. Ohio rolled in at third place – though whether it maintains that position with adult-use now legal remains to be seen.

Intoxicating hemp stores are seemingly everywhere in Texas, which has an extremely restrictive medical marijuana program. The state even allows minors to buy the intoxicating hemp products, while the politicians continue to fret over adult-use cannabis.

A ban on intoxicating hemp has been proposed in Texas, but it hasn’t progressed. In the meantime, these smoke shops and convenience stores are happy to ring up sales.