HOF Recap: A Floridian’s Perspective on California Cannabis
“Do you want to smell?”
A wide-mouthed mason jar of weed was shoved under my nose right when I walked up to the ice cream-themed booth at Hall of Flowers, a cannabis trade show and event in Santa Rosa, California.
Before I could say yes, I could smell the rich aroma of sweet milk chocolate and mint coming from the jar. It was pretty incredible just how delicious it smelled and how intense the scent of chocolate was.
I was doing my final walk around on day one of this B2B industry-only cannabis convention. Hall of Flowers is an event that showcases an immersive experience between licensed cannabis brands retailers, and industry workers.
This curated event exhibits everything from flower, concentrates, edibles, topicals, accessories, and technology from the hottest brands in the California cannabis market. Retail and dispensary buyers, press, investors, and industry insiders roam the exhibit halls to shop and connect with others in the industry.
Retail sales are made, business deals are settled, and endless pre-rolled joints are passed around.
I first learned of Hall of Flowers three years ago when I had just begun working in the industry running social media engagement for one of the many small start-up brands in the legal cannabis space.
From an Instagram viewer’s perspective, this event seemed like one of a kind. Outside in the California sun, there you could see people laying around looking cool in bright-colored bean bags, passing joints and dabs, and smoking products by some of the (then) top California cannabis brands.
From the perspective of a Florida native, who could not even fathom attending an event where you could openly purchase and consume cannabis, I was immediately enamored by the idea of an event like this and had to know more.
So here I am, three years later – I’ve gone through many hours of freelance work and I’m currently cultivating on a commercial cannabis farm up in the Emerald Triangle in Northern California.
I have finagled my way through seasoned experiences and random gigs within the cannabis industry, and I finally had the opportunity to attend this annual Hall of Flowers event.
I took another deep whiff of the chocolatey mint weed jar and asked her what the flavor was like, to which she replied, “It tastes exactly how it smells!”
She then went on to tell me that it’s a hybrid, but “leaning on more of an indica…but not like a sleepy, couch-locked indica, more of a daytime lazy and relaxing indica.”
What?
Honestly, this response totally bummed me out. Not only was I genuinely curious in more knowledge of the bud’s flavor profile and why it smelled so sweet, but it reminded me all over again about the lack of information often marketed around cannabis products and the overall industry.
It also reminded me exactly why I wanted to work in cannabis in the first place – to be a part of filling this need for consumer information and education in cannabis.
Despite all the frustrations and uncertainty that sometimes comes with the uncharted waters of the industry, there is so much more to learn from this plant that pot prohibitionand criminalization has taken away from us.
Education is going to be at the forefront of consumer sales and marketing for the cannabis industry. It is prominent in order to encourage new consumers to explore their connection with the plant, and it is crucial in order to break the negative stigma surrounding weed.
Walking out of the sugary ice cream wafer themed booth, I looked around at the handful of other elaborately decked out booths around the venue. Seriously – what’s with all the sugary themed branding? Why does it feel like they would be more enticing to a kid wired out on candy?
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good dessert strain. There are tons of classic cannabis cultivars that revolve around sweet, confectionary flavors and aromas, and there’s a whole market out there with that type of flower that consumers are buying.
But these kind of booths all seemed as if they were copied and pasted throughout each of these Southern California cannabis brands – very flashy and showy, with little to no depth in company value or quality.
There didn’t seem to be a connection between the cannabis flower and the source of the product. Barely any information other than “indica, hybrid, or sativa”, and maybe cultivar lineage to indicate what sort of experience is expected of the flower.
In contrast, there were plenty of booths that truly stood out for diving deeper into information and value around their products.
Booths like Aster Farms showcased the essence of their farm and roots through beautiful photographs and visual displays, and Moon Madeeven had a virtual reality tour of her Humboldt County farm. The best part of it all was engaging with these brands and small farmers on their flower: how it’s grown, what to expect with each cultivar they’ve grown, and why they love it.
Although I’m biased with the opportunity to attend HOF through capturing and curating content for the Bloom Brand, I also truly appreciated their booth’s presentation.
With minimal olive green walls and floor, their sleek Surf disposable vape was displayed next to information on the tasting notes, lineage, THC content, and desired effects of each new live rosin flavor.
Information easily accessible to the consumer, done in a simplistically beautiful way.
Walking through the exhibit halls at Hall of Flowers further proved that the path to this plant’s education lies in the hands of the brands and the entire cannabis industry.
The power of consumer education on the cannabis plant and product quality could create an environment and community that praises these options available in this saturated legal market.
Brand value, customer loyalty, and the overall quality of the product are all crucial elements of a successful brand that can be backed by the power of plant and product knowledge.
There’s the outrageously loud and flaunty and shiny new brands in the California cannabis market, and then there’s the Emerald Triangle legendary growers and small-owned cannabis farmers who have worked years before legalization at their cultivation craft.
Just like there’s craft or domestic beer, or vintage wines versus the two buck chuck at Trader Joe’s…there’s room in the industry for both of these people.
But it’s going to take way more than the wallets of eager investors and noisy branding. It’s going to take the responsibility and integrity of each brand to provide the proper insight and education about cannabis.
Although the state’s current legal market is saturated with big industry brands and labels, only time will tell which will truly and authentically outstand the rest.
In retrospect, I’ve now had the opportunity to see both sides of California cannabis. I’m nearing the end of my six-month internship at Swami Select, cultivating commercial sungrown and regenerative cannabis for the season.
I’ve learned more here about cannabis in these six months than I have in my handful of years working those random industry gigs. My time here has proven that the knowledge and science of this plant is truly what makes it so incredible and unique. There’s a lot more to say here, but it’s the middle of Croptober (harvest season, baby!) and there’s still a lot to digest and process before it’s articulated.
Hall of Flowers was an insightful opportunity to see both ends of the California cannabis market while reminding me what makes the cannabis industry so valuable and different among others.
From a Florida native’s perspective, the California cannabis market has the opportunity to become an inclusive and educational community for all, it’s simply going to take accountability and responsibility from workers and brands to promote education in this space.
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