As Western cannabis markets like California and Colorado struggle with price compression and illicit competition, many are shifting focus toward the East Coast, and for good reason. In particular, the Maryland cannabis market is poised for growth, especially after the recent passage of adult-use legalization in the 2022 midterm elections. As the year draws to a close, we’d like to take a minute to highlight some of BDSA’s top brands to watch in the Free State, covering rising players across the edible, flower, preroll, dabbable, and vape subcategories.
BDSA’s edible brand to watch
HiColor
A subsidiary of Vireo Brands under Goodness Growth Holdings, HiColor offers a product portfolio of colorfully-branded, vegan infused gummies. The brand has steadily gained share in the Maryland edible space since their entry into the market in early 2022. As of September 2022, HiColor has grown to make up an ~8 percent share of total edible dollar sales in Maryland, and an ~11 percent share of gummy dollar sales, impressive growth for a recent entry into a developed medical market.
BDSA’s flower brand to watch
Grow West
Grow West MD: A vertically-integrated brand based out of Cumberland, Maryland, Grow West has significantly grown their share of the Maryland flower sector in 2022. Grow West’s total flower dollar sales roughly doubled between January 2022 and September 2022, making them the number two best-selling flower brand by dollar sales in September 2022.
BDSA’s preroll brand to watch
District Cannabis
One of the most well-known brands in the DMV region, District Cannabis offers a wide range of products in the Maryland medical market, including edibles, topicals, flower, and concentrates. The brand’s prerolls have seen impressive growth in 2022 so far, with their share of preroll dollar sales growing from ~2 percent in January 2022 to ~12 percent in September 2022.
BDSA’s vape brand to watch
Offering flower, dabbable, and vape products at a variety of price points, Strane has become a mainstay of the Maryland medical cannabis space. While many other vape brands have seen their sales stagnate due to price declines, Strane has consistently seen gains in monthly vape sales throughout 2021 and 2022. Between January 2021 and September 2022, Strane’s share of vape dollar sales increased from ~3 percent to ~10 percent, making the brand one of the top five best-selling vape brands in September 2022.
BDSA’s dabbable brand to watch
SunMed Labs
A top Mid-Atlantic region brand that boasts having the largest cannabis farm in Maryland, SunMed entered the concentrate space in the Spring of 2021. With a line of concentrates including live resin, cured resin, shatter, and diamonds, SunMed has seen rapid growth in the concentrate sector, with the brand’s share of dabbable dollar sales more than tripling between January 2022 and September 2022.
While Maryland is not likely to become the biggest market in the region, the state is expected to make huge gains with the addition of adult use, and become a key piece of the East Coast region that is expected to bring in roughly a third of the total US legal cannabis sales growth out to 2026. Though it may be dwarfed in population by nearby New Jersey and New York, Maryland has the advantage of moving into the adult-use era with a well-regulated, robust medical market, ready to service a growing, enthusiastic consumer base.
