Ontario Pre-Roll Trends: 2021 Third Quarterly Review

Ontario is a juggernaut within the Canadian cannabis space. Bolstering increasing sales each quarter, the province continues to propel itself fiscally with the legalization of marijuana. Proof of Ontario’s cannabis market growth is obtainable through the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) Quarterly Review and has proven indispensable for the Ontario cannabis market.

Through the review for Q3 of 2021, we can see that in just the one quarter there was a sale total of 59 million grams of cannabis, coming out to a record $399 million in sales, a full 1% increase from the previous quarter. This could be lent to the easing of Covid-related restrictions within the Cannabis landscape in Ontario compared to the year prior.

Most unbelievable, 40.8% of ALL legal cannabis sales within Canada take place within Ontario. With this huge chunk of the Canadian market, Ontario continues to prove it is a hallmark in the cannabis industry.

However, the cannabis industry is not all about flower, concentrates, and edibles. Pre-rolled cones, blunts, tubes, and other paraphernalia are just as important in the cannabis game as our precious terpenes and trichomes. To enhance our understanding of the pre-roll game in Ontario, we took a deep dive into OCS’s quarterly report to see what brands are holding it down within The Loyalist Province.

Pre-Roll Sales

Like in many places cannabis is legal, pre-rolls are incredibly popular within Ontario. Within the third quarter of 2021, there was a sales total of $76,301,000. This total can be split into two different categories: single strain packs and variety packs.

Single strain packs of pre-rolls are by far the most popular, raking in a sales total of $75,256,000 by the end of the third quarter. This is compared to variety packs, typically of the same strain, which only sold $1,054,000. This data illustrates that most customers know exactly what strain they want when they visit dispensaries and are comfortable with selecting specific strains over a handful of strains to try.

Single strain packs will typically come in standard pre-roll tubes, glass tubes, super seal tubes, or pre-roll tins. This sleek, easy to control packaging is much more appealing to the eye than a variety pack of joints in a simple bag. Instead of a simple bag, many variety pack providers opt into using pre-roll tins, child-resistant pre-roll plastic boxes, or paper pre-roll boxes. These options help to both keep the weed fresh and comply with strict compliance regulations.

Pre-roll sales as a whole have been on the rise within Ontario. Proving their versatility in the market, pre-rolls make up 20% of the total cannabis sales within the province! You can typically associate this success with how easy it is to purchase, handle, and consume pre-rolls for the average consumer. It is also incredibly easy for cannabis providers to produce pre-rolls using pre-roll machines, which speed up the process dramatically.

As pre-roll sales continue to grow within Ontario, it is important to solidify one’s brand among the many pre-roll producers of the cannabis industry. Many producers opt into creating their custom pre-roll cones and pre-roll packaging to help differentiate their brand from others.

Top Five Pre-Roll Brands Based on Sales

Within OCS’s report, five pre-roll brands are marked as being a cut-ahead of the rest. In order of the most popular first, we can see what these brands are doing to propel themselves to the top of the pre-roll sales market within Ontario.

Good Supply

The Good Supply, founded by Aphria Inc, is dominating the Ontario pre-roll market as of its opening. They held a 13% market sale percentage as of quarter 3 of 2021 and have not slowed down since.

They offer an abundance of options including fan favorites Monkey Glue, Starwalker Kush, and Sour Kush. Good Supply thrives off of top quality bud paired with low prices, with an average gram pre-roll charging about $6.85 each. Yet, the most popular pre-roll in all of Ontario is the Sativa-dominant Good Supply Jean Guy pre-roll, costing about $8.64 per gram.

Good Supply uses sleek custom pre-roll tubes with yellow branding, helping them differentiate their packaging from other brands. Top-quality pre-rolls, reasonable prices, and compact, easy to recognize packaging. It is clear how Good Supply has managed to top the charts in Ontario.

Redecan

Raking in 11% of the total pre-roll sales in Ontario is Redecan. Redecan was founded in 2014 and was one of the very first entities to obtain a license from Health Canada to grow medical marijuana. With an abundance of experience in the market, the brand has continued its success in the pre-roll market post-legalization.

Redecan offers several pre-roll options, including Wappa, Outlaw, and Lilac Diesel. By far their most popular strain is the Cold Creek Kush Redee King Pack, topping the top 10 most popular pre-rolls in all of Ontario according to headset.io.

The brand has two different types of packaging for its pre-rolls. Their more simple ‘Redees’ line comprising of their own black stylized airtight bags. The second of which is their ‘King’ series, which are packaged in their own custom black cigarette packages with cigarette-styled tubes. This approach to packaging grants the pre-rolls an extra flare, setting them apart from their competition.

Pure Sunfarms

Pure Sunfarms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Village Farms International inc., opened in Hamilton, Ontario in 2014 and gained its sales license in early 2018. Since gaining its cultivation license in 2017 the brand has advertised that its bud is produced with the utmost care, creating cannabis for the people of Ontario to enjoy.

With more options than the previous two brands, Pure Sunfarms brings a lot to the table. Their most popular pre-roll, Pink Kush, has captivated their clientele since its conception. Yet, they offer a ton of well-known strains including Blue Dream, Jet Fuel, Black Cherry, and more.

Using more recognizable strains has helped them with their sales and notoriety in the long run, as Pure Sunfarms holds a total of 6% of the market sales in the third quarter of 2021.

Hiway

Hiway, produced by Blissco, has taken a much different approach to their pre-roll repertoire, keeping their choices of strain rather simple. However, it has worked out for them, as they hold 5% of the total pre-roll market.

Their two most popular items are simple ones, an Indica 2-pack preroll, and a Sativa 2-pack preroll. Using quality buds and boasting cheap prices in a two-pack, Hiway has solidified itself with the 4th and 5th most popular pre-rolls by sales within Ontario. The brand proves that sometimes, simple is better.

RIFF

Last but not least is RIFF, which serves quality cannabis of all forms to the Ontario public. As of the third quarter of 2021, they hold 3% of all pre-roll sales within Ontario. Similar to Hiway, they keep their selection of pre-rolls rather simple.

RIFF most notably serves Gilded Grams, Hawaii Heartbreak, and their most popular, Subway Scientist prerolls. These prerolls are a little more on the pricey side, averaging about $9.50 per gram. Their packaging comes in their signature black pre-roll tubes.

Keeping things simple and clean while offering quality cannabis, RIFF is poise to continue to grow as the cannabis market continues to evolve within Ontario.

The Future of Canadian Cannabis

Canadian cannabis is still a relatively young market that continues to grow each quarter. This remained true even with the extra challenges the pandemic posed to the cannabis industry. As with many young markets, the regulations and laws surrounding Canadian cannabis continue to change, as well.

An example of this is the legalization of infused pre-rolls, which was announced in November 2021. Now legal for sales, they are counted as extracts, and producers and sellers are licensed as such. Infused pre-rolls are a huge seller in other more established markets, for example, Washington State or California.

With its legalization, pre-roll companies will have a brand-new avenue to create revenue and keep their customers coming back for more. If handled correctly by brands, infused pre-rolls can help support already established brands or even help boost up-and-coming ones. As the report we covered today is for 2021, it will be interesting to see how the sales change after the legalization of infused pre-rolls.

If you are interested in learning about infused pre-rolls and how to make them, you can get in contact to schedule a demo for our very own Automated Pre-roll Infusion Machine, to get a step ahead of the competition in this new fiscal year.

In Conclusion