NEW KIDS IN THE HALL

It was a time of change and new beginnings as Hall of Flowers, the Cannabis trade show for new and exciting products, combined its northern and southern editions this year to create one unified event. The Cannabis industry in California has undoubtedly changed, especially in the last few years. As its reflection, so has the Hall of Flowers. There were some notable absences at the 2023 show, creating room for the next class of stars to rise up at the changing of the guard. The last iteration was a short six months before and it felt like that was a sort of graduation for some of the household name brands we were used to seeing. Now, a whole new pack of faces have taken up positions on the varsity squad. This new era of Cannabis is still defining itself. It’s as if we’re watching a new iteration of Hall of Flowers take shape now that brands are faced with a fervent need to quantify ROI. Just like a new actor stepping into an established role, there’s going to be an episode or two required to create a new rhythm, new characters, and a slightly different appearance. Also missing were many of the overwhelming activations with their blinking lights, mascots and gimmicks – replaced instead with a one-on-one outreach approach. The undeniable truth is that companies have less of a budget to wow retailers and consumers, and these days they need to know that every dart they throw hits a target. Talking with vendors about how they felt about this year, each one agreed that the event was quieter but seemed like a success from a business standpoint, as they found more time to devote to individual connections and less competition from flashy, over-funded booths. Instead, there was the addition of a smaller farm section that highlighted companies like Sol Shine and Bigfoot Cannabis Co.

Hall of Flowers is an amazing opportunity for the industry to get together, present our newest developments, and if nothing else, look around the room and see that there’s a considerable amount of people in this industry still pushing the rock. There will no doubt be an important dialogue between vendors and organizers as they continue to flush out how this next evolution should look. We at Leaf Magazine are excited to see how our industry, and Hall of Flowers, continues to adapt and change with the times.