Grab Your Tote

What weed can learn from farmer’s markets.

The Broccoli Report 
Friday, August 26, 2022
Time to read: 9 minutes. Contains 1802 words.

Above: Imagine if you could get a Lovepot bouquet at the farmer's market?

Grab Your Tote: What Weed Can Learn from Farmer’s Markets.

When it comes to welcoming environments, it’s hard to beat the farmers’ market. Families stroll alongside first dates, friend dates, and weekly regulars while eagle-eyed delicacy hunters from across town hit favorite stalls of local goods. A band might be playing; children are usually running around. Friendly sellers offer free samples and are eager to tell passersby about their wares. Depending on your local market, the produce may have a more ragged, rustic charm than its pristine grocery store counterparts or it may be so beautiful that it makes the stuff in the grocery store look lackluster, but no matter what, the stuff at the farmers’ market usually tastes better. Plus, there is the added pleasure of knowing just where it came from and having the opportunity to connect with the folks who grew or made it.

Imagine what seeing cannabis in this context could do, especially for folks still uneasy about the plant. What better way to break down the barrier of stigma and misinformation between growers and potential consumers than by bringing them together in a safe and welcoming space? Sadly, the strictly regulated world of licensed brick-and-mortar dispensaries and rules prohibiting most public visits to cannabis grows are entrenched and emerging as a nationwide norm. It’s essentially legally impossible to buy tested, legal product anywhere but a dispensary or via home delivery. Hemp, though, is a different story.

I mentioned in a previous dispatch that here in Portland, OR, indie markets—farmers’ markets, but also night markets and flea markets—have been a lifeline for local CBD and cannabis accessory brands, offering a great way to raise brand awareness and get samples into customers’ hands. In today’s newsletter, we’ll stroll through the fantasy farmers’ market of my dreams, then we take a turn toward the real, digging into the high-impact possibilities the industry could unlock if progressive regulations allowed cannabis cultivators to sell directly to consumers, opening up a new stream of income for craft operators struggling to stay afloat in increasingly saturated markets. While we're getting more imaginative today, we hope this journey can inspire some out-of-the-box ideas that entrepreneurs could activate in the real world today.