Trendspotting from the cannabis industry’s exclusive trade show and expo
“As a small brand, how do I get to all these retailers?… Hall of Flowers is the biggest congregation of brands and buyers in California… If there’s 1,000 buyers, how long would it take you to visit 1,000 shops? So the potential is massive.” said Beard Bros’ own Bill Levers on The Greens Pod hosted by Susie Plascencia, founder of Latinas in Cannabis and Mota Glass.
Hall of Flowers Ventura took place on March 19-20, 2025 where “exhibiting brands, licensed retail buyers, and tightly vetted entrepreneurs, investors, and thought-leasers, and media” convened for a two-day networking, deal-making, and product discovery.
“I’m here to network and sell,” said the sales rep for Big Pete’s as we sat in the sunshine and passed around Nasha’s new live rosin infused preroll. I admire her hustle.
Day 1 was packed with buyers and the energy in the hallways was electric. Almost every person I stopped to chat with felt battered and beleaguered by the brutal challenges of this industry, yet vibrantly optimistic and energized to keep moving forward. Those who have diversified out of state are finding greener pastures and less drama in New York, Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri.
Day 2 was open to industry but noticeably quieter due to NECANN Boston. Many people who’d usually attend the second day traveled east to attend New England’s largest cannabis convention. In years past, the second day was full and bustling but this year it was nice to slow down and enjoy more intimate conversations.
There’s no better place than Hall of Flowers for industry trendspotting and innovation. Here’s my hot take on what’s new and interesting, hits, and misses from the Ventura March 2025 show.
New & Interesting
Paperless Joint. Loopy Sanchez showcased a slim joint elegantly tucked into a bamboo tip. The flower and kief pressed stick is all cannabis, no burnt paper, and comes in at ~60% THC.
Low Odor Prerolls. Hush Puppy uses a steam distillation process to remove the sulphuric compounds that give weed its skunky dank odor. Designed to hide in plain sight like a cigarette he showed me a video of him smoking a j inside the casino next door. No one gave af, presumably because it didn’t smell like weed. I tried one and it’s not bad! Works as advertised and I can see this being popular with people who enjoy smoking but have odor sensitive neighbors or family members.
Affordable Dry Herb Vaporizer. Under $60, works well, looks sleek, and has a compact design. E10labs Iven™ Device is a pocket-sized dry herb vaporizer and has a water pipe adapter. It’s an excellent accessibly-priced device compared to the Venty or PAX Mini.
Savory Snacks. I miss seeing savory edibles and was thrilled to meet Pop20, gourmet infused popcorn in Mexican Street Corn, Aged White Cheddar, Black Truffle, Theater Butter, and Cheesy Jalapeño Poppers flavors at 100mg THC per bag. Who wants to host a stony summer movie night?
Dual Vape Pens. Double chamber, two flavors in one vape battery. Dual’s brightly colored palm vapes are aesthetically pleasing and attractive for customers who like the convenience of two effects and flavors in their vapes. These two-strain vapes sell very well at the dispensary I budtend at.
Hits From Hall of Flowers Ventura 2025
Top Flower Picks: I’m an unapologetic sun-grown lover and it was noticeably underrepresented at the show. Amongst the craft farmers there at the Equity Trade Network, Solful, and Redwood Roots booths, standouts include: Nimbus Snacks and Headband from Sol Spirit Farms, Passion Guava Orange by Greenshock Farms at the Solful booth, Papaya Punch from Humboldt Nation, Blunicorn from Sanctuary Farms, and Ridgeline Rose (Whitethorn Rose x Lantz), a collaboration between Huckleberry Hill Farms and Ridgeline Farm.
Flower critic Caleb Chen deems Budularo, with its rare exotic cultivars, best in show. Everyone was buzzing about CAM during and after the show.
Craft farmer Judi Nelson noticed that 95% of the buyers she spoke with at the show felt that “people coming in [to their shop] requesting sungrown are just wanting the cheapest weed they can buy.” Why is there such a misunderstanding and dislike of craft cannabis grown organically with regenerative methods in the sunshine with roots in native, real soil? Where does this disparity come from and why does it continue to persist?
Trending: Huckleberry Hill Farms famous Whitethorn Rose is having a moment. I saw Whitethorn Rose in a Coldfire cart, multiple live rosins, and as an edible. A deliciously bright-eyed, dance-y, euphoric high in all her forms, definitely get some if you haven’t tried it yet.
Edible innovation. The godmother of ice water hash edibles, Space Gems, introduced a new line of cannabis edibles enhanced with functional mushrooms. The mini gem vegan gummies taste delicious and come in Vitality Boost with cordyceps, Vibrant Focus with lion’s mane, and Celestial Sleep with reishi.
Celebrating Women. Grown Womxn Good Weed (GWGW) curated a standout lounge and space where women gathered, connected, met with the leading women leaders, and participated in a photobooth art installation celebrating the community of women in weed.
Best Booth: A pinklicious fantasy wonderland celebrating and empowering femininity in honor of Women’s History Month by the Beyond Legends team with Pretty Dope, Yummi Karma, and High Gorgeous. Not only was this visually stunning and tasteful, the messaging and execution was on-brand at every detail to attract their audience. Free pins, stickers, accessories and photo opp moments with empowering and motivating sayings including “Don’t Look Back, You’re Not Going That Way,” and “Look How Far We’ve Come.” What I love about this booth is how it made womxn feel proud, seen, and supported. They just earned a loyal fan and evangelist for their brand.
Shoutout to Juana for the delightful and whimsical ikebana sculptures that illustrated the ingredients in their new gummy line. Whimsical ginger root and turmeric, jujubes and cherry blossoms, and blood orange on display like museum art.
Best in Visual Design: Beautifully displayed and set up like a museum exhibit, Hara Supply’s Design Your Own Preroll display was a visual guide to the art of prerolls. The design clearly communicates what they do, how to do it, and all the possible combinations without needing to make small talk with the rep. I enjoyed visually learning about all the different materials and styles of prerolls.
Shoutout to the beautiful floral display by The Flower Daddy at Kush Queen’s booth. Great to see Kush Queen’s luxurious bath bombs and lube are back, and excited to see the Jack of Diamonds limited collaboration with Connected.
Misses From Hall of Flowers Ventura 2025
Fruit hoarding. The thing about a weed tradeshow is that you’re gonna try the weed. And then inevitably you’re gonna get dry mouth and the munchies. Lo and behold a magical fruit cart appears! What would you do right now? The correct answer is grab the containers of fruit in front of you. I watched a poor sales rep try to stop a horde of stoners by shouting, “Stop! Those are for buyers only.” This happens every year at this booth.
Why are you being stingy with the fruit when you can clearly afford it? I see you standing in the booth holding a fat wad of cash. Next show, please allocate more fruit budget.
Hangry stoners. I’ve noticed that there is often not enough food or water at cannabis events. For the show n00bs, I did advise to pack your own snacks. Attendees on Day 1 waited over an hour at the food trucks for food and were visibly grouchy. More water stations, please.
Performance art gone wrong. Everyone might be talking about your provocative booth but in all the wrong ways. Turn’s booth creative featured a teaser campaign and storyline that shows an emotionally unstable real-life Ken in his defaced bedroom showing a conspiracy wall expressing anger and jealousy that Barbie cheated on him with a vape pen. Reactions ranged from “It’s fun and so colorful, but I don’t get it,” to “It makes me concerned for my daughters,” and “I don’t understand what they’re selling.”
Buyers just want the menu and the pricing. The staff working the booth were just as confused and surprised. On Day 2 I didn’t see any brand reps working the booth, just the model hired to be Ken laying on the bed looking creepy.
This stunt masqueraded as performance art missed the mark at multiple levels. It doesn’t have a clear message, confuses and insults its audience – of all genders, and puts the company at risk of being sued. When it comes to intellectual property, you can’t use images of Barbie and Ken, and posters of “Pulp Fiction” without infringing on Mattel and Miramax creative copyright. Maybe they didn’t think that far, or they just don’t give af. Whatever is happening here, is this the company you want to make a deal with?
I’m not going to get deep into my interpretation of this and why it’s “giving me ick” here. If you want to know, I’ll share the chai on my Fruit + Flower Unfurled newsletter and podcast in a future issue.
Booth babes and objectifying women to drive sales. Just stop already. It’s such a bad look and unfortunate for everyone involved.
Why doesn’t this exist yet?
Eco-friendly vapes. Can we acknowledge that all-in-one vapes are an environmental health disaster and stop over-producing them? I get it, consumers will pay for convenience and these things sell like hotcakes but there must be a way to make a better product for everyone’s sake.
“If you buy vapes, demand better.” it says in Raw Garden’s marketing booklet for their new Sprout™ All-In-One – touting a better terpene-safe plastic and offering the design to anyone who asks. Design-wise, yes it’s hella cute and I appreciate the effort but let’s be real, it’s creating more unnecessary environmental waste. I liked their previous less wasteful vape design with the removable cartridge and reusable 510 thread white battery.
I demand better. I hereby challenge the cannabis and vape hardware industry to make eco-friendly vape products with recycling and proper disposal programs. Set a higher bar for all of us.
Excerpt from The Ethical Consumer’s Green Book – 5th Edition: March 2025 (Hall of Flowers) “A Green Book Open Letter” from Rama Mayo, co-founder of Hall of Flowers:
“Who we stand with matters. What we build matters.
As Denis Peron said, ‘Cannabis brings people together. It heals, it soothes, it unites.’
So I ask you: How will you contribute? How will you push this movement forward?
Let’s continue building. Let’s continue evolving.
Let’s continue creating the future of cannabis together.”
Upcoming Shows
Santa Rosa: September 10-11, 2025
New York City: October 8-9, 2025
Christina Wong is a cannabis food, drink and travel writer, culinary artist, and creative producer in Los Angeles, California. She’s the Founder & CEO of Fruit + Flower Co.; writes Fruit + Flower Unfurled, a weekly newsletter for culinary cannabis enthusiasts; co-host of Mogu Magu, an AAPI culture, food, and cannabis collective; and Budist edible critic. Her work has been featured in High Times, Cherry Bombe, CannaCurious, and Kitchen Toke magazines.
