The Detroit Free Press takes a great look at the emerging Michigan edible cannabis industry saying in part:
The edibles market — consisting mostly of gummies, chocolate bars and truffles, mints, gum and infused drinks —saw $1.5 billion in sales in 2018 in the United States and Canada, according to BDS Analytics, a Boulder, Colorado-based research firm that follows the cannabis market.
As more states legalize marijuana for adult recreational use — there are 10 now, including Michigan — that number is expected to grow to $4.1 billion in sales by 2022.
Consider Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, where 2.7 million units of edible products were sold in 2015, the first full year of legal marijuana sales, according to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division. By 2017, that number rose to 11.1 million edible units sold, which accounts for 13.4% of the state’s marijuana market.
In anticipation of the budding recreational market in Michigan, local edible chefs are ramping up production and the leading national edible brands such as Colorado-based Dixie Elixirs and Wana Brands, as well as California-based Kiva Confections, have partnered with Michigan companies to break into the state’s market, which already has nearly 293,000 medical marijuana customers and many more potential customers for the recreational market.
We’re making about 1,500 chocolate bars per day and we’re going to double that amount. We can’t keep them in stock,” said Maxwell Murphy, who is in charge of compliance for Choice Labs, a company that operates marijuana grow and processing facilities and two dispensaries in Leoni Township near Jackson. “We’re hiring right now for a second shift and when the recreational market comes on line, we’ll get more automated equipment when we get to a bigger scale.”
…Nancy Whiteman, CEO of the Boulder, Colorado-based Wana Brands, one of the leading producers of gummies, said that many people don’t want to smoke and inhale marijuana anymore and edibles can provide both short- and long-term highs, depending on the dose.
“What we’re seeing more and more is people matching their form of ingestion with what they’re taking the products for,” she said. “It’s not unusual for some gummies to last six or eight hours, so people use them to help with sleep. Or you can micro-dose and have a nice, relaxing day.”
Read on for more at the Freep & let us know what your favorite Michigan edible is in the comments!
