Msnmarijuanasup 420 Successes for 2023 Article
Celebrating 420 Across the USA: How One Day’s Sales Boosts the Cannabis Industry
April 20th has long been the unofficial weed holiday across the country. What is rumored to have begun as a meeting point for counterculture teens in California is now a sacred holiday when people get outside, light up, and relax together.
What a great day MSN Packaging Inc. had on 420, it was like Christmas in many ways. Our company is located in Brookings Oregon where we believe in the benefits of marijuana, so much so that our little town on the California boarder supports over 7 Dispensaries.
What a successful day of networking and celebration of the local farms. I spent the day with my friend Brittany networking with the other local entrepreneurs and seeing their successes makes 2023 a very optimistic year for growth. Here are some of the brands that stood out.
Like most holidays in the United States, 420 represents a significant boost to the bottom lines of any dispensary or retail establishment. It doesn’t matter if you are selling 420 products specific to the day or child-resistant packaging for your overstock of edibles. Everyone wants in on the spike in sales. Think of 420 as the Black Friday event of the marijuana industry, where a massive amount of profit is to be made and fantastic memories to be had.
Of course, that also means there are frequent celebrations across the country as well. Every major city with at least a medical marijuana designation tries to get in on the fun. Some of these include:
1 – 420 Hippie Hill, San Francisco, California
Roughly 20,000 people descended into San Francisco to enjoy an afternoon of smoking and toking with one another to the dulcet tones of Erykah Badu. This is one of the most significant events around the country, with booths, food, music, and plenty of weed to pass around., Many of the most exotic brands come to display their wares for a free event that is live-streamed so people outside of the state can share in the festivities at home. This one even represents a relaxed atmosphere with millions in revenue on a single day.
What made this year a bit different at 420 Hippie Hill was the $40,000 cash prize for the best brand in the King of Z Hill cannabis competition. That should give you an idea of just how much this event makes. You’re looking at millions in revenue that comprises a significant portion of any local retailer's annual revenue.
2 - Mile High 420 Fest, Denver, Colorado
Of course, you cannot have an event around 420 products without Tommy Chong! As a leading partner of the infamous Cheech and Chong, this headliner brings all kinds of clout to an event that hosted over 40,000 guests. From 1 to 10pm, Civic Center Park was a cloud of joyous laughter and incredible music from Rick Ross, Fivio Foreign, Waka Flocka Flame, and more. You had vendors, food booths, local dispensaries, and even a beer garden. The entire event was free to enter, but you had to pay for any of the extra features like drinks and eats.
This is a massive cash cow for the local area and retailers, with millions pouring into the city. Many of the brands that are “home-based” dispensaries get their startup funding by spending every last penny to have a booth at this event. Even if Colorado doesn’t allow certain items for sale outside of a physical location, they can at least drum up word of mouth for online sales that account for over 20% of their annual revenue.
3 - NY Cannabis Freedom Festival, New York, New York
This is the first year since recreational cannabis has been made legal that NYC has been able to celebrate a massive event. Between Covid and the legal loopholes going around the state, it hasn’t been easy to host big events, but that didn’t stop organizers from bringing in dispensaries, brands, and retailers from all over the country to the Big Apple. This marked the 5th annual event with headliners Raven International, guest speakers about growing your own weed, food, drinks, and a fantastic atmosphere set in one of the most vibrant parts of the cities.
The total earnings are not out yet for the event, but with $30 ticket prices to attend and a maximum capacity reached for both of the two days the festival happened, you can expect to see the Freedom Festival again in the future.
4 – Northwest Cannafest, Portland, Washington
If you are living in the great Pacific Northwest, then you should have been in Portland for the Cannafest. This year featured all kinds of incredible bands, cover acts, and talent, from people playing Fleetwood Mac to local vendors hawking CBD and cannabis products for everything you could imagine. One booth was even focused specifically on dog treats that could help with anxiety during the many thunderstorms the region is famous for having.
The total tally has yet to come out, but the tickets started at $27.50 per person, and that’s not including food and drink sales. Considering this city has had a bunch of disruptions over the past few years being at the heart of the BLM marches, it is rumored to have boosted the local economy enough to warrant a future event permit already.
5 – Grass is Greener, Hadley, Massachusetts
This is an exciting event. It is marketed at New England’s biggest Earth Day experience and features over 75 vendors, 3 stages of music, a food truck fair, education seminars, and even a Pull’D Up exotic car invitational. It was a welcome change compared to last year, when numerous artists pulled out.
Instead, this year the festival went off without a hitch featuring Action Bronson and Wyclef Jean as well as plenty of opening acts. The tickets started at $75 head, and there were so many other activities like wrestling and hot air balloons that the profit is rumored to have skyrocketed into the 3-5 million range after all considerations. While there are some issues happening in the background that still need to be ironed out (like administration), you can expect this event to come back in 2024.
Why is 420 so Important to Business?
These are only 5 of the top events. The list goes much longer with the Smokey River 420 Festival in Missouri or Georgia’s Sweetwater 420 Fest. Pretty much any town looking to capitalize on the annual marijuana holiday has backers scheduling music and food trucks as quickly as possible.
Why all the rush around 420? There is no bigger day for selling pot across the country than this date. Think of it like the buildup to Christmas or fireworks on the fourth of July. LendEDU did a survey to measure how much was spent and earned on 420 and found the average consumer will dish out $146.12, with around $71.35 of that going toward the product.
To put that in perspective, the average consumer only spends $20-$30 a week on marijuana-related products per week, with most purchasing their entire need at the start of the month. That means this one day represents 3-4 times what a retailer earns on any other day.
Aggregated sales typically grow 25% on this one day, with most of that going to new buyers due to laws changes across states. In addition, retailers purchased 26% more product in March than they had in 2022 to prepare for the holiday that is now expanding to an entire month instead of a single day. All of that activity means this is becoming as important to the cannabis industry as the period right after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve for retail stores like Target and Walmart.
With all of that demand, you need a quality supplier of child-resistant packaging and state-compliant gear to help you out. That is where our team at MSN Packaging can help. We offer packaging supplies for any cannabis-related product that meets your individual state laws and code. You don’t want to miss out on the surge in popularity of your products from all the 420 events. Contact our team today, and let’s find a packaging solution that ensures all your customers come back for more!
As for 2024, we expect 420 events to only become bigger and better, with brands from all over the world coming together to celebrate one of the fastest-growing pastimes in the country – enjoying cannabis.