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: Packaging Actually Matters | WA Market Reality | Mystery Strain Teaser

Hey Dealers,

Last week I told you Washington surprised us. This week, Nick went back for a deeper dive — cold, wet, rainy, made him miss his Santa Rosa routes. But he came back with something neither of us expected.

He hit over a twenty stores. And five of them, unprompted, complimented our new packaging.

Not the product first. The packaging.

One budtender in Seattle said, "Most brands here don't spend time on this." Nick noticed it too. Walking the aisles, a lot of WA brands looked... rushed. Like they put everything into the product and slapped on whatever packaging got it to market.

California spoiled us. We're used to seeing brands that look finished. But in Washington, we stood out just by caring about how it looked on the shelf.

Here's what I'm thinking: in a crowded market, good packaging isn't vanity. It's a signal. It says you give a shit. And if you give a shit about how it looks, maybe you give a shit about what's inside.

Question for you Dealers: Does packaging actually influence what you buy? Or is it all about the budtender's recommendation? Hit reply and tell me if we're overthinking this.

Onwards and upwards,

-Malcolm

Tight margins in WA are real. Nick learned that negotiating pricing is tougher there than in CA or NY. Distributors and shops are operating on razor-thin margins, which means less room to experiment with new brands. If you're not already on the shelf, getting there is harder.

Outsider advantage might be real. Last week I said WA shops were curious about California brands. This trip confirmed it. Being the "new thing from CA" gets you in the door. You're not just another local brand they've been ignoring for years. The question is whether that novelty converts to reorders.

HOF Just around the corner: Catch us next week at HOF Ventura with our new rebrand announcement! (Y’all already know about that of course). B404 is the booth!

This week: Dry Sift vs. Ice Water Hash (Educational edition)

Switching it up this week. Instead of a product review, here's something Nick learned in Washington that's worth understanding.

While hanging with the Sitka team, Nick got a crash course on dry sift hash vs. the ice water bubble hash we use for our carts.

Here's the difference in plain language:

Ice water bubble hash (what we use): You freeze the flower, then use ice water to separate the trichomes. You get multiple grades depending on the micron size. The top-tier stuff (90-120 micron) is clean, potent, and flavorful. This is what goes into our resin carts.

Dry sift hash: No water. You use screens to sift trichomes off the flower. It's faster, less equipment-intensive, but harder to control quality. You can get incredible dry sift if you know what you're doing, but there's more room for plant material to sneak in.

Nick almost took a hot knife dab of Sitka's dry sift off the hotel stovetop. He decided not to. (Good call.)

Why this matters: When someone says "hash rosin" or "live resin," ask what method they used. It tells you a lot about what you're
actually smoking.

Next week: The $1,000 mystery strain contest.

We're dropping the first clue in the next issue. The prize goes to the first person who guesses it correctly.

Here's what I'll tell you now: it's one of our strains. The flavor profile will surprise you. And $1,000 is real money — we're not messing around.

Stay tuned.

This week's ask: What's in your rotation right now?

Send me a pic of your current cart (or flower, or whatever you're smoking this week). First three people who reply get a sticker pack. Best one gets featured in the next issue.

Hit reply with the pic. Keep it simple.

Dealers, think you’ve got a better review? Here’s the link to our Reddit feed!

Know a budtender who'd dig this? Forward it. They subscribe, you get a Dealers hat.

Already got 1 referral? You've got a hat coming. DM me your address if you haven't yet.

Halara · Emerald Triangle, CA

Tracks I’ve been listening to this week. Tune in and Tune out.