Pre-Roll Multi-Packs: A look at segment data & performance

Introduction

At Headset, we love diving into our product categories and analyzing them one by one. Since we’ve already covered Pre-Rolls, we thought it was time to go one step deeper and examine how they are sold: singles or multiples within a pack. We will start the report by looking at overall market shares and pricing between the US and Canada. We’ll also take a closer look at the Canadian market and explore segment shares and demographics to see who is buying Multi-Packs and single Pre-Rolls in Canada. Then we finish the report by seeing which package sizes of Pre-Rolls are the most popular in the US and Canada. So get cozy, light up a Pre-Roll (or multiple), and join us on this fun analytics adventure!

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Executive summary

When we compare the market share in the US and Canada, Multi-Packs of Pre-Rolls are more popular in Canada than single Pre-Rolls. For example, in 2021, Multi-Packs accounted for 79% of Pre-Roll units purchased in Canada, and only 25% in the US. Focusing on different age groups and how they purchase Pre-Rolls in Canada, we see that share of Multi-Packs increased as age groups got older. Female consumers in Canada also had a larger market share in Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls compared to Males within the same generation. Consumers in the US and Canada seem to prefer different package sizes of Multi-Packs. In Canada for example, the most popular package sizes of Multi-Packs are the 3-packs (36%) and 10-packs (27%). In the US however, consumers are purchasing 5-packs (37%) and 2-packs (14%) the most, with 10-packs of Pre-Rolls making up 13% of the market.

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Methodology

Data for this report comes from real-time sales reporting by participating cannabis retailers via their point-of-sale systems, which are linked to Headset’s business intelligence software. Headset’s data is very reliable, as it comes digitally direct from our partner retailers. However, the potential does exist for misreporting in the instance of duplicates, incorrectly classified products, inaccurate entry of products into point-of-sale systems, or even simple human error at the point of purchase. Thus, there is a slight margin of error to consider.

In this report we examine sales in markets where Headset provides Insights data. This includes CA, CO, WA, NV, OR, and MI in the US and AB, ON, BC, SK in Canada. We present all data in local currency and do not make adjustments for currency fluctuations.

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Market shares of cannabis Pre-Rolls in the US & Canada

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We start our deep dive by comparing the popularity of Multi-Pack and single Pre-Rolls in the US and Canada. Above, we have graphs of unit market share and sales market share in 2021 for both countries. When we look at units sold, Multi-Packs accounted for 79% of Pre-Roll units purchased in Canada in 2021, and only 25% in the US.

When we look at the graph of sales share, we see a similar story in the amount of dollars that were made up from Multi-Packs with 89% of sales in Canada and 43% in the US. Let’s see how these sales compare in individual states and provinces.

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Share of Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls in different markets

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In this graph, we analyze sales share of Pre-Roll Multi-Packs in different states and provinces in 2021. All of the Canadian markets exceed share in Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls compared to the US markets. Ontario has the lowest share of the Canadian markets at 87%, which exceeds the top US market (California), by more than 20%.

Share of Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls within the US had a range of 40% in 2021. Colorado, Michigan, and Nevada had the lowest shares in the US, around 20%. Shares in these markets could be lower because Colorado and Nevada are considered more tourist destinations, and Michigan is a younger market. California (56%), Oregon (48%), and Washington (45%) have the highest share of Multi-Packs and are also all mature markets. This may indicate that consumers in these markets are veteran customers that know what they want in a Pre-Roll and are more likely to purchase Multi-Packs over singles than in younger markets.

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Market share of Multi-Packs through time

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We saw how popular Multi-Packs were in Canadian markets in 2021, but let’s see how this trend has evolved over time. This graph shows the monthly market share of Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls in Canada since they entered the market in March 2019. Multi-Packs did well in Canada from the start, rising steadily in popularity through 2019 and 2020, and then finishing the last six months of 2021 at a consistent 90%.

The graph also shows market share in the US since January 2019. Multi-Packs in the US increased market share during the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020 from 31% in January to 39% in March. This may be because consumers were stocking up their favorite Pre-Roll products during this time.

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Pricing of Multi-Pack and single Pre-Rolls

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Next, let’s look at average EQ price, or average price per gram, between Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls (blue column) and single Pre-Rolls (gray column), and the difference between those prices (green dot), for the US and Canada.

In Canada, single Pre-Rolls had an average EQ price of $10.67 and Multi-Packs had an average EQ price of $8.82, with a difference of $1.85. Quite similarly in the US, the difference between average EQ price between single and Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls was $1.51 in 2021.

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Pre-Roll segment shares in Canada

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Since Multi-Packs are more popular in Canada, let’s take a look at the Canadian market more closely. In this graph, we have segment share between Multi-Pack and single Pre-Rolls during 2021.

Indica Single Strain and Sativa Single Strain segments had larger shares within Multi-Packs, while single Pre-Rolls had a larger market share of the Connoisseur/Infused segment (2%). Mixed Strain (0.7%) and CBD - Single Strain Pre-Rolls (1.3%) only had sales within Multi-Packs in 2021.

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Pre-Roll demographics in Alberta & Ontario

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Now let’s look at how different age groups are purchasing Pre-Rolls in Canada. Here, we split up each generation by gender in Alberta and Ontario to see their market share of Multi-Pack and single Pre-Rolls. Multi-Packs were very popular among all generations and both men and women. Even the lowest market share demographic, Generation Z Males, was well over 80%.

Share of Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls increased as age groups get older. There can be two potential reasons for this:

1. Older generations might know what they want in a Pre-Roll, and as we discovered in the previous graph, single Pre-Rolls might be for more experimentation or specialty purchases.
2. Generation Z consumers also might not have the amount of income that the older age groups have. Since the single Pre-Rolls are less expensive, they might be more inclined to add a single Pre-Roll to their basket over a Multi-Pack.

Female consumers had a larger market share in Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls compared to Males within the same generation. The largest difference between Male and Female consumers within the same generation was Generation Z, with a difference of 3%.

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How many Pre-Rolls per pack?

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Now let’s look at how many Pre-Rolls consumers are purchasing within each Multi-Pack. This graph shows the share of serving size, or how many Pre-Rolls there are in a package, for Multi-Packs in the US and Canada in 2021.

In Canada, it seems most consumers preferred 3-packs (36%) and 10-packs (27%), but this wasn’t the case in the US. Instead, US consumers went for 5-packs (37%) and 2-packs (14%) the most, with 10-packs of Pre-Rolls making up 13% of the market.

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Price per gram of Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls compared to singles

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When you purchase a 5-pack of something, it’s reasonable to expect it to cost less per unit than a single pack. This graph is showing that relationship. Specifically, this graph shows the average EQ price of every serving size compared to the average EQ price of a single Pre-Roll by subtracting the two. For example, a 2-pack of Pre-Rolls in Canada shows $1.54 in the graph, that means that a 2-pack of Pre-Rolls in Canada is priced an average of $1.54 per gram more than a single Pre-Roll gram. If we look at Canada’s 6-pack of Pre-Rolls, the dollar amount goes negative (-$1.76), which means that 6-packs are priced less per gram than a single Pre-Roll gram.

Since Canada’s average EQ price is more than a single Pre-Roll up to 4-packs, it makes it seem that the lower package sizes are more premium brands or specialty Pre-Rolls. The top sold 4-pack Pre-Roll product sold in Canada during 2021 was Top Leaf’s Forbidden Lemon Caviar Pre-Roll 4-pack (2g) with an average EQ price of $22.25.

For Canada, we can see that the relationship between serving size and EQ price difference is a downward trend. But this trend is a little more inconsistent for the US. As we mentioned in the Pre-Roll report, there are more infused Pre-Roll products in the US, which tend to be more expensive. This seems to be impacting Multi-Packs as well. The top sold 9-pack Pre-Roll product sold in the US during 2021 was The Flower Collective’s Pinners Infused Pre-Roll 9-pack (4.5g) with an average EQ price of $10.85.

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Conclusion

Whether you prefer one or 10, Pre-Rolls are a popular consumption method and we’ll continue to keep you abreast of the latest trends in multi-pack pre-rolls as the category continues to evolve. Are you eyeing opportunities in the Pre-Rolls category? Headset tools equip you with everything you need to ensure your Pre-Rolls succeed in your market. Leverage tools such as sales dashboards to track category performance, demographic insights to understand who’s purchasing Pre-Rolls and more. Sign up for a demo to learn how you can keep an eye on opportunities in the cannabis industry.

Key takeaways

• Multi-Packs are more popular in Canadian markets than in US markets. In Canada, Multi-Packs made up 79% of Pre-Roll units sold in 2021 when they only made up 25% in the US.
• The US saw an increase in Multi-Pack Pre-Roll market share during the start of the pandemic in 2020, when the market share grew from 31% in January to 39% in March.
• Within Alberta and Ontario, Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls are very popular among all generations and genders, even the lowest market share is with Generation Z Males, and is well over 80%.
• 3-packs are the most popular serving size of Multi-Pack Pre-Rolls in Canada with 36% share, followed by 10-packs with 27%. The most popular serving size in the US is the 5-pack with 37% share.

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