Hi there, and welcome to The Dealers Diary - my musings on the cannabis industry, California, and building Halara.
If you missed past emails, I recommend checking out the Dealers page where you can see the past emails I sent.
In today’s entry: Nicks Visits | Strawberry Sugar | Free Merch | Bops
The Dealers Desk
Hey Dealers,
Nick just got back from Brooklyn — 25 shop visits in two days, feet destroyed. But he came back with something.
The stats: a lot of interest, but nothing locked on the spot. That's how it goes. You plant seeds, you follow up, you stay persistent. But the real takeaway wasn't the sales pipeline.
It was this: everyone says they want live resin and rosin.
Nearly every shop mentioned it. Budtenders swear customers are asking for it. But here's the thing — in all the time we've spent in stores, we've almost never heard a customer actually ask for live resin. The budtenders believe it, but we're not seeing it on the floor. Nick thinks it's mostly bullshit.
His read is that customers don't actually care about extraction methods as much as budtenders think they do. What they want is high potency that hits clean. The fancy live resin story is nice, but the botanicals that actually perform? Those are rare. And when you find one, it sells and nobody asks how it was made.
This is the kind of insight you only get from walking into 15 stores and listening. Not from trade publications.
Not from cannabis Twitter.
Next week he's doing the same thing in Washington. I'll report back.
Onwards and upwards,
-Malcolm
What We're Seeing
New York is thawing. That METRC hold froze everything for weeks — shops weren't ordering, brands were stuck waiting. That's over. Orders are coming in again, and we're seeing real momentum for the first time since December.
Washington surprised us. The conventional wisdom was that WA is a mature market that doesn't want outsiders, especially California brands. Turns out that's wrong. We're in 12 stores, already at five figures in revenue, and shops seem genuinely curious about what we're doing. Maybe being the outsider is actually the advantage — we're not just another local brand they've been ignoring for years.
Strain Spotlight
This week: Strawberry Sugar (Halara sativa AIO)
The numbers on this one are ridiculous. It's been our top seller for two straight weeks — limited drop, white device, and people keep coming back for more.
Nick's take: "Creative and talkative. The kind of thing you hit before a brainstorm or a long call with a friend. Not a couch-melter."
On flavor, he won't shut up about the finish. Bright berry up front, almost candy-like, then it mellows into
something smooth and creamy — almost dessert. If you care about taste over just getting blasted, this is the one.
Where to find it: CA shops. DM us if you can't track it down.
Dealers Choice
No Reddit gems this week. But here's a deal: post your Halara moment to our Reddit or reply to this email with a pic, and I'll feature you in the next issue.
First one to send something good gets a sticker pack + dad hat.
Dealers, think you’ve got a better review? Here’s the link to our Reddit feed!
Coming Soon
Nick hits Washington next week. And we've got something brewing — a mystery strain, and $1,000 for whoever guesses it first. More soon.
Quick Hits
Healdsburg drama. Someone was calling out Solful and Jane on Instagram over dispensary licensing. The reel got pulled before I could grab it, but if you're in NorCal cannabis circles, you've probably heard the chatter.
WA budtenders are nicer than NYC budtenders. Not a hot take. Just a fact. Nick's data confirms.
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iykyk
Halara · Emerald Triangle, CA
P.S - My Weekly Bops
Tracks I’ve been listening to this week. Tune in and Tune out.
