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The Connecticut cannabis market is under the microscope as supply reaching dispensaries is screeching to a halt, both on the medical and adult-use sides of the aisle. This post looks at the recent Connecticut retail cannabis sales figures and analysis of the wholesale market.
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) released December 2023 sales data this week, which is shown in the table and chart below.
December saw 453,944 products sold in the adult use market, up 13.4% month-on-month.
Medical products sold in December totaled 291,133, up 3.4% from the prior month.
Connecticut adult use retailers sold $144.7 million worth of cannabis and cannabis products in 2023, the first year that the recreational market was open in the state. Sales began in January last year.
Retail sales to medical cannabis patients in the state resulted in $129.3 million in revenue.
Total legal cannabis sales in the state were $274 million last year.
Somewhat ironically, Connecticut’s spot wholesale flower price has been on the rise since early November, when regulators announced that they would be increasing purchase limits in the adult use market due to what they deemed adequate supply. Beginning December 1, adult use consumers were allowed to purchase up to a half-ounce of flower or its equivalent in other products, up from the previous quarter-ounce limit. Last week’s assessed price of flower per pound represented a 15.7% rise from the recent low observed in the opening week of November 2023.
In the interim, however, Connecticut’s spot price experienced a dip from mid-late December before jumping upward in the first week of the new year. This week, price spiked by almost 11%. Anecdotal reports from consumers and registered patients in the state have told of a lack of inventory in dispensaries at the moment, with only a handful of varieties of flower on offer compared to the usual several dozen.
Cannabis Benchmarks made an inquiry with DCP concerning the reports of limited inventory. Kaitlyn Krasselt, Communications Director with the DCP, provided the following response: “The Department is aware of a limited variety of certain products, and is continuing to monitor the situation. The limited variety is likely the result of promotional sales retailers ran in association with the holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Anecdotally, we know retailers experienced heavy traffic in relation to the holidays, and the record sales in our December data supports that. Additionally, more than 1,000 products have received brand registration approval from the Drug Control Division since Nov. 1, 2023, that are expected to be available in stores in the coming days and weeks.”