Pride month arrives each year with a chorus of support in the form of affirmative rainbow-themed cannabis products on shelves. But which companies are in it for the annual cash-grab and which ones are owned and operated by LGBTQ+ people—probably the best-fitted to roll out a Pride month promotion?
Headset, the leading data and analytics platform for the cannabis industry, set out to determine which LGBTQ+ owned brands stand out.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 03: A pride flag with the cannabis symbol blows in the wind near The … [+]
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The Pride and cannabis movements frequently overlap as they are both viewed by many as human rights. In large part, thank LGBTQ+ people for helping to pave the way.
Why? Due to the AIDS crisis, modern medical cannabis state laws as we know it were propelled by people like the late Dennis Peron as well as Valerie Corral, co-authors of California’s Proposition 215–America’s first real state medical cannabis law—and countless others. Corral was co-organizer of the Santa Cruz Dyke/Trans March for 19 years, while Peron cited AIDS-related wasting syndrome alleviation as one of the prime drivers of California’s medical cannabis program, a major turning point in the realization of medical cannabis in America.
Anyone who has consumed cannabis knows how useful it is for inducing appetite, and in some ways, cannabis had the opposite effect on the appetite as AIDS. Dispensaries were established amid an urgency for help. Then there’s the late Mary Jane Rathbun, aka “Brownie Mary,” or “the Florence Nightingale of HIV/AIDS,” who was transformed by the AIDS epidemic and handed out infused brownies, down to her last dollar.
“The cannabis industry, as we know it today, is very much rooted in queer history—the plant’s influential role during the 1980s AIDS epidemic eventually helped lay the groundwork for future legalization efforts like Prop 215 in ’96,” says Headset Product Marketing Manager Joe Cullen. “Supporting queer-owned brands is not only paying homage to Pride month, but it’s also recognizing the shared legacy between our industry and LGBTQ+ communities.”
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Headset shared a blog post Monday highlighting 5 LGBTQ+ owned brands that consumers can support year round. The list includes the following brands and shares data highlights like best-selling product, product performance, regional growth, and more.
“Data comes from real-time sales reporting by participating cannabis retailers via their point-of-sale systems, which are linked with Headset’s business intelligence software,” said Mitchell Laferla. “Headset’s data is very reliable, as it comes digitally direct from our partner retailers. The highlighted brands exhibit the variety of traits of the industry as a whole. Some are growing year over year, others are shuffling positions under intensifying competition, and others are struggling like the rest of the industry under less than ideal market conditions.”
Below is a list containing five of Headset’s top picks of current, LGBTQ+ owned businesses that are deserving of support during Pride month. But also don’t forget the scores of other queer-owned businesses that aren’t on this list, such as Stone Road, Sava, Altered Plates, or Drew Martin Co. a 100% queer-owned cannabis brand.
CANN’s co-founder, Harvard-educated Luke Anderson, said it’s important to say “gay” year-round—not just during the month of June. Award-winning tonic CANN is one of California’s leading cannabis-infused beverages: The drink holds the number one spot in total sales during 2020, 2021, and 2022. CANN was awarded “Brand of the Year” along with a slew of other awards at the 2022 Clio Cannabis Awards, and five of those awards were attributed to their successful Pride 2022 campaign.
Sundae School has seen an average sales growth of 24% over the last three years since their debut. Sundae School co-founders Dae Lim and Mia Park emigrated from Seoul at age 13. The Korean-American brand based in New York launched a unique unisex smokewear label. They now offer a line of pre-rolls and edibles in the California market.
The Commonwealth Cannabis Collective (CommCan), is one of Massachusetts’ largest LGBTQ+ owned cannabis companies in the state, with brands like DRiP, SIP, Bite, and TINQ. It’s also family-run and female-owned. CommCan’s “Terp Tonic,” the first cannabis-flavored beverage in the Massachusetts cannabis market.
The Earth Kisses Sky (EKS) team has a background in holistic health and herbalism, run by founders and partners in life and business, Ashley Short and Tijen Yalchin. The brand launched in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. Since Short battled Lyme disease, she embarked on a healing journey with the help of Rick Simpson oil (RSO), and wants to share her success with EKS.
With a product line that spans four different categories (topicals, tinctures, edibles, and concentrates), Peak Extracts has something for everyone. The women-owned, Portland-based company, is one of the few brands developing single-strain edibles, easily identifiable by their color-coded packaging.
To learn more, read Headset’s blog post on LGBTQ+ owned cannabis companies worthy of your attention.
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