Winter is peak season for marijuana-infused chocolates, according to edibles manufacturers and Seattle-based cannabis data provider Headset.

“January and February are our strongest chocolate sales months,” Christine Apple, founder and CEO of Oregon-based edibles manufacturer Grön, told MJBizDaily.

ADVERTISEMENT

Grön operates in six states and Canada – and she plans to launch operations in three more states in 2025.

But as Grön has expanded to become a marijuana multistate operator, the chocolate segment of the infused-edibles category has lost market share to gummies, a development Apple finds disappointing despite her company’s success in the gummy category.

Chocolate “is so underrated, and nobody gives it the attention it deserves,” she said.

Apple said about 70% of Grön’s sales come from gummies, while chocolates make up

Read full article on Marijuana Business Daily

A hemp merchant is suing Tennessee police for $850,000, claiming that authorities allowed hundreds of pounds of federally compliant hemp seized in a traffic stop to spoil and become illegal marijuana.

According to a federal civil rights complaint filed Friday, Andrew Smith was transporting 216 pounds of hemp, obtained from a licensed grower in Oklahoma, to a merchant in North Carolina , in October 2023 when he was stopped by police in Sevierville, Tennessee.

ADVERTISEMENT

After using a “roadside test called MobileDetect,” police seized the shipment, which the lawsuit claims was accompanied by lab tests as well as approval from the “Tennessee and Oklahoma Departments of Agriculture” – demonstrating it was compliant with the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp nationwide.

Another challenge for

Read full article on Marijuana Business Daily

(This is a contributed guest column. To be considered as an MJBizDaily guest columnist, please submit your request here.)

Magnus Thorsson (Courtesy photo)

Harley-Davidson’s struggles in the past decade offer a cautionary tale for the marijuana industry.

From 2014 to 2023, Harley-Davidson’s sales plummeted by 37%, driven by limited options appealing to new entrants and evolving market demands.

Efforts to attract new riders, such as women, stumbled because of heavy, costly bikes ill-suited to their needs.

Similarly, the state-regulated marijuana market is contending with slowing sales growth, intense competition and shrinking margins.

A key challenge is the lack of new consumer entrants, even as cultivation efficiencies have ramped up.

ADVERTISEMENT

This mismatch has resulted in a surplus of inventory, driving down prices and intensifying market pressures.

Since

Read full article on Marijuana Business Daily