How To Successfully Sell Pre-Rolls in Canada

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Canada is trailblazing the cannabis industry – as the very first country to legalize the cultivation, sale, possession, and consumption of cannabis at a federal level, they are paving the way for the future of cannabis! However, federal acceptance of cannabis also means federal regulation of cannabis. Policed by rigorous testing, certifications, and law changes, it begs the question: how do Canadian stakeholders sustain profit? Custom Cones USA is sharing the answer to sustaining profit and increasing it!

Located right outside of Canada in Washington State, Custom Cones USA is deeply integrated with Canadian LPs regarding pre-roll sales, packaging, and distribution. Established as The Pre-Roll Experts, it’s time to share our insights and data, so you can double your pre-roll sales!

Cannabis is continuing to grow in Canada - Forbes revealed that the Canadian cannabis market hit $2.6 billion in sales at the end of last year!

Amidst Canadian cannabis sales, pre-rolls are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for consumers to purchase and consume cannabis. Almost $97 million of pre-rolls were sold between April 2020 and March 2021, which is over double from the year prior.

“According to Headset Canada Insights, last year pre-rolls were the second-largest product category in Canada, with a 17% market share. As of June 2021, pre-rolls have upped their national share to 19.3%” -Forbes

So how do more companies take a piece of that pie? How does a brand offer Health Canada compliant pre-rolls that will succeed in the Canadian cannabis market?

The answer? First, make sure you are fully Health Canada-Compliant, then offer a variety of sizes and types of pre-rolls, from multi-packs, to blunts, and even infused pre-rolls!

How to Manufacture Health Canada-Compliant Pre-Rolls

When cannabis became legalized in 2018, the Cannabis Act and its associated Cannabis Regulations set forth a strict framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale, and possession of cannabis in Canada.

“The aim of the Cannabis Act and its regulations is to protect public health and public safety by restricting youth access to cannabis, protecting young persons from inducements to use cannabis and to take the profits of illegal cannabis sales out of the hands of criminals and organized crime.” -Health Canada Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch

Health Canada’s first and most important priority is the health and safety of the citizens of Canada. When legalizing cannabis, they maintained these priorities. This is why it is required that each cannabis company is properly certified, each cannabis product is tested and verified, and each province is permitted to determine their own cannabis laws.

1. Get the Certifications

To sell your pre-rolls in the Canadian market, you will also need some specific certifications in addition to passing the required tests. Here are the 5 certifications that both your pre-roll and pre-roll packaging needs to meet:

• Child-Resistant: Packaging consistent with 16 CFR 1700, Poison Prevention Packaging Act.
• Food-Grade Materials: Consistent with Health Canada Compliance standards.
• MSDS Report - Material Safety Data Sheet: Provides basic information on a material or chemical product. A MSDS report describes the properties and potential hazards of the material, how to use it safely, and what to do in an emergency.
• Technical Specification Sheet: Provides detailed drawings of your packaging to Health Canada.
• Certificate of Conformity: States that the packaging meets the required standards or specifications. Ensures the product has been tested and passes the set criteria.

We’re here to simplify and streamline the process for you! Custom Cones USA can provide tested and compliant packaging for your pre-rolled tubes and cones. We conduct rigorous testing on all of our products, as well as hold our raw material providers/vendors to a very high standard. Moreover, we provide and verify all legal documentation. We engage in ethical practices by utilizing batch codes and vendor qualification forms to ensure our items are consistently compliant with Health Canada’s packaging and labeling laws.

2. Pass the Tests

Historically, cannabis thrived in a counter-cultural space, free of regulations and testing. Now, it is a highly regulated business, overseen by strict policy through The Cannabis Act - a legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale, and possession of cannabis across Canada. For this reason, your pre-roll must comply with the regulations and testing Health Canada requires. When it comes to pre-roll products like blunts or multi-packs, labs are testing for 3 areas:

• Heavy Metals
• Pesticides
• Microbials

Heavy Metals

The heavy metals that cannot be found in your pre-rolls are lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium. Specifically, lead needs to be less than 500 parts per billion (ppb). As for the other three, those heavy metals need to be less than 200 parts per billion (ppb). Health Canada’s limits for heavy metals are determined based on permitted daily exposure and concentration limits. Additionally, there are certain components of your pre-roll that are prone to heavy metal absorption. It is good practice to pay close attention to these 6 things:

• Rolling Paper: Paper is made from plants, which naturally absorb contaminants from the soil.
• Filter Paper: Filter paper is generally made of fibrous cellulose, which has great potential to absorb metal ions.
• Inks: The foundational makeup of ink is pigments and dyes. While pigments are generally insoluble, dyes are highly soluble for unwanted metals.
• Cannabis Itself: Cannabis, like many other plants, absorbs contaminants in the air, soil, and water being used to grow the plant. It is important to monitor pesticide levels and prevent contaminants from finding their way into the soil and water.
• Packaging: If packaging is cheap then it is likely lacking regulation and, as a result, may carry heavy metals, or it may not be food-grade or child-resistant.
• Production Environment: Dirty production environments rarely test their air levels for heavy metal toxicity, but the production environment has a huge impact on what contaminants may be found in finished products and is important to keep in mind to prevent potential contaminants.

Pesticides

It’s important to note that pesticides affect blunts and natural leaves more than any other section of the pre-roll market. This means we should pay extra attention to those areas during production. Click this chart to view the exact pesticides that cannot be found in your pre-roll! Given that “pesticides” is a hot buzzword, let’s clarify its definition - pesticides are substances used to destroy insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants and animals. This is relevant because rolling papers are derived from paper crops. Paper crops can absorb contaminants from the soil, such as pesticides - it is common for these crops to be fumigated to deter pests. While paper manufacturers are required to list their ingredients, the paper portion of the cannabis industry is generally the least regulated segment of the billion-dollar business, so pesticides can easily sneak their way into pre-roll production. This is why Custom Cones USA holds suppliers to a very high environmental standard; it is far too easy to grow paper crops in toxic soil and polluted air.

Microbials

Microbial contamination tests look for total yeast and mold count, total aerobic bacteria count, and total bile tolerant gram-negative bacteria. In addition to the mold itself, the tests are also screening for mycotoxins, which are potentially carcinogenic chemicals produced by certain molds. Here are the potentially carcinogenic mycotoxins labs are testing: aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, and G3. The secret to avoiding microbials is ensuring that your pre-rolls are produced in a clean work environment. Work environments for pre-roll production should be held to the same standard as work environments for pharmaceuticals and food production. Ensure your pre-rolls are coming from an environment that has the following:

• Clean grow rooms/greenhouses
• Humidity/Filtration control
• HEPA Filtered Air Systems
• Workers wearing gowns, hair coverings, and protective gloves.

Here is the bottom line: Canada-Compliant pre-rolls cannot contain heavy metals, pesticides, and microbials.

We understand the standard the pre-roll needs to meet, but what if we wish to sell other smokable products? Here is what needs to be tested for other smokables:

• Testing for quantity and concentration of THC, THCA, CBD, AND CBDA on each lot or batch of cannabis
• Testing for microbial and chemical contaminants (heavy metals, aflatoxins, residual solvents, etc.)
• Testing for dissolution and disintegration
• Testing procedure, retention period, and sufficient quantity

You can also visit this page for relevant testing details.

3. Be Aware of Provincial Rules and Regulations

Another point of awareness should be given to the individual provinces in Canada. The Cannabis Act may regulate cannabis on the federal level, but Provinces are responsible for determining the sale and distribution of cannabis within their jurisdictions.

Provinces set rules around

• How cannabis can be sold
• Where stores may be located
• How stores must be operated
• Who is allowed to sell cannabis

Provinces also have the flexibility to set added restrictions, including

• Lowering possession limits
• Increasing the minimum age
• Restricting where cannabis may be used in public
• Setting added requirements on personal cultivation

This chart lists the specific rules regarding cannabis for each province!

Remember, a federally regulated Cannabis market is a relatively new concept. That means there are inevitable shifts and amendments in laws and regulations, so it’s paramount to stay up to date on the changes made at the federal level as well as the provincial level.

According to Health Canada, the Cannabis Act requires the Minister of Health to conduct a review of the administration and operation three years after being signed into law, which studies the impact of the Cannabis Act on public health; the health and consumption habits of young people regarding cannabis use; the impact of cannabis on Indigenous people and communities; and the impact of cannabis cultivation in a dwelling-house. As it has been three years since the Cannabis Act was put into place, the review will soon be taking place and there may soon be several changes made to the Cannabis Act, depending on the findings of the review.

4. Offer a Variety

Pre-rolls are one of the most popular ways to consume cannabis. In addition, the pandemic has made consumers do less puff, puff, pass and instead stick to enjoying their own pre-rolls. This has skyrocketed pre-roll sales, with more stoners opting to pick up their own joint rather than share one with friends.

As pre-rolls gain popularity, brands are forced to compete with each other to maintain consistent customers and keep catching the eye of new customers. This is why it is so important to offer a variety of products to meet the needs of as many potential customers as you can and maximize your sales.

Traditional Pre-Rolls

Traditional pre-rolls are packed in paper cones. The most popular cones are refined white paper, unrefined brown paper, or natural hemp paper. 109mm full-gram King cones are most common, but many consumers find that a full gram is too much for one smoke sesh, especially as less people share joints amidst the pandemic. Many smokers prefer smaller joint options, like the 98mm three-quarter gram cones, or half-gram cones in 98mm reefer size or 84mm standard.

Pre-roll filling machines like the King Kone or standard knockboxes make it easier than ever to fill pre-rolls at scale with minimal time and effort. Long gone are the days of painstakingly packing pre-rolls by hand, one by one!

Blunts

While flavored blunt wraps have been banned in Canada to discourage use of tobacco products by minors, blunts have become a hot commodity in the Canadian cannabis market! Few companies have hopped on the bandwagon, as legislation was unclear at first, but this means there is plenty of room for growth as more companies add blunts to their pre-roll offerings.

Blunts burn slower than traditional paper pre-rolls because of the thicker material being used. This results in a longer smoke sesh to enjoy! Additionally, blunts feel more luxurious than standard pre-rolls, providing a premium feel to the smoking experience that consumers love.

Tendu wraps and botanical blunt wraps are joining hemp wraps as some of the hottest blunt wrap options available on the market, becoming a popular alternative to tobacco wrap blunts or even the popular Cordia palm leaf blunts, which are banned for use in Canada due to high testing levels of pesticides and heavy metals. Learn more about natural leaf wrap alternatives in our blog post here!

Hemp wraps are moisture-sensitive and can dry out, leading to a tube that crumbles or smokes unevenly for the consumer. Moisture packs are a must-have when making hemp blunts and will keep the integrity of the blunt intact for longer.

Our hybrid blunt wraps are a good option that combines the best of both worlds - the look and feel of a hemp blunt, with the longevity and flexibility of traditional rolling papers. They are not as moisture sensitive as the hemp wraps, and they are more durable during processing.

It is important to note that blunts are more fragile than traditional paper cones, and are more time-consuming to pack in comparison to normal joints. That being said, they are also a higher margin item!

Infused Pre-Rolls

Infused pre-rolls have taken the US market by storm. Canada caught wind and recently legalized infused cannabis pre-rolls to be permitted under the Cannabis Act. Health Canada emphasizes the fact that license holders are required to hold a processing license with the authorization to sell cannabis extract products.

Cannabis extract products, per Health Canada, include kief and concentrates such as hash, rosin, distillate, shatter, and wax.

The infusing process for pre-rolls can be done efficiently using our Automated Infused Pre-Roll Machine, which infuses 800 pre-rolls per hour at 4.5 seconds per infusion! Machines like these are revolutionizing the world of infusion, making it easier than ever to keep up with market demands for these high-THC products.

Infused cannabis products don’t stop at pre-rolls - moonrocks are another infused cannabis product that are incredibly popular. They are made by rolling whole flower buds in concentrate like rosin or distillate, and then roll it in kief. The end result is a densely potent nug that hits harder than a standard flower nug.

Multi-packs and Dogwalkers

Dogwalkers, also known as miniature pre-roll joints, have gained immense popularity in the cannabis market. The sheer size and efficiency of the dogwalker fits the modern fast-paced lifestyle of today’s society. A miniature joint is designated for one smoker, as opposed to a traditional joint designated for sharing. These joints are designed to hold .25 - .35g of flower in a 70/26mm cone or a 70/21mm cone. Because of the small and convenient size, dogwalkers are very common to put in multi-packs of 10-20 pre-rolls.

Pre-roll multi-packs allow friends to share a smoke sesh without passing a joint, which is especially appealing during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Some theorize the Dogwalker’s popularity is in direct correlation with the pandemic - a time where most of us are weary of sharing drinks and joints.

Cigarette-Style Pre-Rolls

Redecan is a Canadian cannabis company with indigenous roots who have made the switch from selling tobacco products to cannabis. They utilize their modified tobacco-filling machines for their pre-rolls, creating a pre-roll that resembles a cigarette in size and feel, but without any tobacco or nicotine present in their products.

The inconspicuous look and sleek feel make these pre-roll packs hugely popular with consumers in Canada.

Our artisan tubes are cigarette-style tubes that have been designed specifically for cannabis. The papers are thinner than tobacco rolling papers, allowing the flavor of your flower to shine through and star the show. The filters, like the rest of the tube, are designed for cannabis and hemp products to keep little bits from making their way into the consumer’s mouth, while still allowing a smooth flow of smoke for bigger hits. For a luxury feel, try out our Glass-Tipped Artisan Tubes, or wow your customers with a spiral tip filter!

Our tubes are designed to hold .5 - .7g of flower, and are most commonly sold in multi-packs of 10-20 tubes per pack.

In Conclusion

As pre-rolls continue to skyrocket in sales and popularity across Canada, adding pre-rolls to your product offerings is a no-brainer. The convenience of a pre-roll makes cannabis accessible to novice smokers and veteran stoners alike, and the pandemic has created the perfect storm to boost pre-roll sales as people are less keen on sharing joints, and would prefer to have their own.

To successfully sell pre-rolls in Canada, follow these four steps:

• Get the certifications.
• Pass the tests.
• Be aware of provincial rules and regulations.
• Offer a variety of pre-roll products.