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Price and % THC Driving Flower Purchases

Cannabis purchases were up in December and the majority of Canadian consumers are spending less than $5 per gram on dried flower according to a recent survey. Cannabis Retailer commissioned Caddle Insights to survey 7,848 Canadians in December on their cannabis consumption and shopping habits.

Cannabis Purchases

23% of respondents purchased cannabis in the past three months, up 4% from last month. This number has remained relatively stable throughout 2023 until November. 20% of women purchased cannabis in December, up 6% from last month. 26% of men purchased cannabis, up 2% from last month.

Consistent with past survey results, millennials and Gen Z had the highest number of respondents that purchased cannabis in the past three months at 30% each. Greatest Gen and baby boomers had the lowest at 15% and 12% respectively.

Price Drives Purchases

Price, percentage of THC, and other factors were almost of equal importance for respondents when purchasing dried flower.

Price was slightly less important for female respondents (26.9%) while other factors were more important (37.8%). Price (35.4%) and percentage of THC (29.5%) were slightly more important for male respondents while other factors were less important (26.5%)

Factors when purchasing flower

While price was of 0 importance to the Greatest Gen, other factors were at 82.5%. Baby boomers also selected other factors as the most important factor at 40.6%. Price was the most important factor when purchasing dried flower for millennials (33.5%) and Gen Z (42.5%) while other factors and percentage of THC (31.6%) were of equal and most importance for Gen X.

With the exception of the Greatest Gen, terpene profile was of least importance for all other age groups.

Gummies Dominate Edibles

Gummies and other edibles were the most popular types of edibles respondents would like to purchase, while cereal bars and lozenges were the least popular.

Types of Gummies to purchase

Similar responses were seen among females, but the percentages were slightly lower than the overall responses. Comparatively, similar responses were seen among males but the percentages were slightly higher than the overall responses.

When broken down by age, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z all selected gummies and other edibles as the most popular types of edibles they would like to purchase.

The responses for baby boomers were more widely dispersed, but the majority chose gummies (31.7%) and other edibles (50.1%) as the most popular types of edibles they would like to purchase. However, only 8.7% of the Greatest Gen chose gummies, while brownies (41.1%) and other edibles (50.2%) were the most popular types of edibles they would like to purchase.

Most Pay Less Than $5 Per Gram

The majority of respondents (39.2%) said they last paid an average price of less than $5 per gram for dried cannabis, followed by 16.2% who paid $5.00 to $5.99 per gram. Notably the third highest number of respondents (13.70%) paid $10 or more.

Similar responses were seen among females but the percentages were slightly lower than the overall responses. Comparatively, similar responses were seen among males but the percentages were slightly higher than the overall responses.

price paid per gram for dried cannabis

When broken down by age, the majority of all age groups said they last paid less than $5 per gram for dried cannabis. Greater variation in responses was seen in the other price categories.

Baby boomers had the highest number of respondents to pay $10 or more per gram (22.3%) followed by Gen X (14.4%). Greatest Gen had the highest number of respondents that would pay $7.00 to $7.99 per gram at 32.4% while Gen Z had the highest number of respondents that would pay $6.00 to $6.99 per gram at 16.9%.

Average Price Paid Per Gram for Dried Cannabis by Age Group

Less than $5 $5.00 to $5.99 $6.00 to $6.99 $7.00 to $7.99 $8.00 to $8.99 $9.00 to $9.99 $10 or more
Greatest Gen (1900-1945) 50.2% 8.7% 8.7% 32.4% 0% 0% 0%
Baby Boomers (1946-1964) 37% 14.5% 9.7% 7.8% 4.8% 3.9% 22.3%
Gen X (1965-1980) 41.6% 14.5% 8.5% 12.2% 5.5% 3.4% 14.4%
Millennials (1981-1996) 39.2% 18.5% 12.5% 9.7% 5.2% 3.2% 11.8%
Gen Z (1997-2005) 37.7% 16.5% 16.9% 13.3% 3.7% 2.7% 9.2%

Supporting Local

Canadian consumers are split when asked if they care if the dollars they spend on a cannabis product stay within their local economy. 59% of respondents said they do while 41% do not care. Similarly, 58% of women and 59% of men care.

Ever the outlier, only 17% of the Greatest Gen care if the dollars they spend stay within their local economy. The other age group responses were more in line with overall responses, with it being of more importance among baby boomers (70% care) and Gen Z respondents (63% care).

Tags: Boomers cannabis purchases (8), cannabis consumption (31), cannabis prices (17), consumer data (32), edibles purchases (2), Gen Z (26), gummies (1), millennials (25), millennials cannabis consumer (14), supporting local (1)