Illicit named Missouri’s best selling cannabis brand in 2021
Data from BDSA named Illicit Gardens as Missouri’s best selling cannabis brand in 2021. Greenway recently spoke to the company’s VP of Marketing, David Craig, about the company’s success in 2021.
“2021 was about building relationships, and our team has been working around the clock to build stronger connections with our wholesale partners and their staff. We moved into our main cultivation facility in May, which allowed us to scale production to cover state-wide demand and expand those relationships. We additionally launched our MIP, allowing us to offer Illicit in all our favorite product categories like concentrates and cartridges. Our MIP also began distributing premium products from our sister brand, Cosmic Seed, which includes edibles, CBD-blended prerolls, and other goods, all derived from Illicit flower.”
“In 2021, we received Greenway’s Best Facility Design award for the state of Missouri, after 5,000 readers cast their ballots. We were additionally grateful to be awarded Top Brand status in Missouri by LeafLink, the state’s primary wholesale ordering platform. The launch of our new facilities certainly was a huge highlight for us, and we got to see the dream become reality.”
Per BDSA Retail Sales Tracking, Illicit Gardens brought in ~30% more in dollar sales than the next best-selling brand in the Missouri medical marijuana market in 2021, making it the best-selling brand by dollar sales.
Proper Cannabis ranked second in sales by dollar with Flora Farms rounding out the top three in 2021.
In Q4 2021, Illicit Gardens products represented roughly 14% of the total dollar sales in the Missouri medical marijuana market.
What were Illicit’s most popular products in 2021?
“Our flower products continue to be our best sellers but we have been watching our manufactured products quickly start to catch up. We’ve spent the last year trying to figure out how we can diversify those flower product offerings while maintaining high-quality standards. That led to the release of two of our most popular products. First, the 5 gram Ready2Roll pre-ground flower jars, which is our most affordable flower product on a per gram basis, and the 7-gram Premium Popcorn flower jars. We were first to market in Missouri with a 7-gram popcorn option, and can’t wait to show Missouri our next batch of releases.
“Our popcorn is hand-trimmed and held to the same standards as our regular buds. Most popcorn buds form by breaking off of larger ones during the curing and trim process. During the curing process, these buds fall to the bottom of the barrel, which causes kief to build up and creates an even more potent final product.”
The Missouri medical marijuana program brought in $209.75 million in retail sales in 2021. BDSA’s recently released Market Forecast estimates that full-year 2022 sales will reach a total of ~$360 million in Missouri.
BDSA Retail Sales Tracking data shows inhalable products like flower and concentrates took the lion’s share of dollar sales by category in 2021, while concentrate sales saw the largest increase in share of dollar sales. Concentrates sales grew from a ~20% share of total sales in Q2 2021 to a ~26% share of total sales in Q4 2021, while both flower and edibles categories saw the sales of their shares slightly decline between Q2 and Q4.
What can we expect from Illicit in 2022?
“This year we’ll have more consistency in available strains. We spent a great deal of 2021 pheno-hunting, which led to the release of 30+ unique strains across Missouri. That often meant some strains would be out of circulation for months while we brought other options to market in a year-long testing process. During that time, our Master Growers studied these strains extensively, perfecting growing techniques that released the full capability of their genetics. This research culminated in the selection of the top performing of those 34 strains that have the highest THC percentages, richest terpene profiles, and the most positive customer feedback. These targeted strains will now be in constant rotation starting this Spring, with the occasional new release, which means it will be even easier and more affordable for patients to pick up their favorite Illicit products.”
In addition to a more stable rotation of flower offerings, Illicit aims to be more active in the community and in-person engagement.
“Throughout the year, we’ll be scaling our dispensary pop-ups to up to 50+ a month, plus we’ll be on-site at all Grinders KC shows in the Crossroads. If you’re in the area, we hope you’ll come by and see us! We’ll also be dropping great new packaging, like our new Smokos cassette tins. On 4/20 we’ll be launching our highly anticipated Freedoms Campaign, which will feature 8 cannabis POWs, their incredible first-hand stories, and information on how you can help them in their journey. Last but not least, we’re eager to bring to Missouri our new solventless product line later this Spring, Essential Extracts, released in collaboration with Nick Tanem.”