Survey Says: Cannabis Users Will Pay More for Gifty Packaging

Seattle-based cannabis grower House of Cultivar is releasing limited-edition, collectible flower packaging for Valentine’s Day this year under its Colors by Cultivar brand. The custom package, a colorless glass jar, holds 1/8 oz of the company’s new Lobster Roll cannabis strain.

The limited edition, a run of 250, will be distributed to cannabis dispensaries in the Pacific Northwest. The Valentine’s Day limited edition is the first in a series of exclusive product drops from House of Cultivar that will use short-run packaging designs to explore packaging concepts.

Leveraging consumer insights from recent cannabis-packaging research, the brand owner created premium-quality packaging for the Lobster Roll limited edition — and set the product’s price 18% to 28% higher than its other 1/8-oz flower products.

House of Cultivar collaborated with several partners to create the limited-edition packaging, specifically printer supplier Roland DGA, cannabis researcher Physis + Agency, and label printer GoldLeaf Print & Packaging.

Premium packaging components and labels.

The Lobster Roll packaging design and execution elevate the product vs. the jars and polyester pouches typically used to package 1/8-oz cannabis flower. The high-end package components are distinctive, with a taller-than-standard jar and a large, child-resistant closure that make the product stand out on crowded dispensary shelves.

House of Cultivar

But it’s the label, custom printed on a holographic substrate and featuring textured, dimensional effects, that particularly draws the eye. GoldLeaf prints the Lobster Roll labels using a Roland DG TrueVIS UV printer/cutter and specially formulated UV inks.

The Colors logo on the main Lobster Roll label features a wavy, 3D neon-tube shape, and the UV ink is printed in layers to create texture and visual depth. Thanks to the holographic substrate, the logo appears to ripple as the jar is turned. The substrate also creates an ever-changing rainbow effect that animates the logo’s bright colors.

The label has contoured edges, enabling consumers to see the flower inside the jar. A smaller holographic label on the closure, also with contoured edges, identifies the strain as Lobster Roll.

House of Cultivar uses its Washington-state regulatory compliance label as a tamper seal between the jar and lid.

Research backs up packaging, pricing choices.

The market intelligence behind Lobster Roll’s packaging design and pricing strategy came from a Physis + Agency survey of 1,009 cannabis-flower consumers in states where adult-use cannabis is legal. The survey was conducted December 2023.

The agency’s research report reveals that consumers are willing to pay up to 26% more for a 1/8-oz package of cannabis flower if it is “something special” — packed in premium packaging that is collectible, giftable, or memorable, for example. “Those already paying almost $80 per 1/8 of flower on average are willing to pay $15 more if there is a reason.”

In addition, 72.5% of respondents said they are likely to pay more for a jar of cannabis if the package is collectible or can be repurposed.

Apropos of holidays and gifting, 56.7% of all survey respondents, and 68.8% of millennials, said they would be likely to give cannabis as a gift if the product was in premium packaging.