Though we didn’t get the rescheduling movement we all hoped for in 2024, we still saw plenty of exciting developments in global, national, and state-wide cannabis markets. The industry is poised for even more growth in 2025. As we approach the new year, it’s a great time to get together to reflect on the past year in the cannabis industry and begin thinking about where we’re headed in 2025.
Without further ado, here is NisonCo’s annual cannabis prediction blog, chock-full of insight from leaders in the cannabis industry and related markets; nearly all offer cross-industry wisdom from lives lived before entering the cannabiz space. Read on for a glimpse of what we’re hoping for in the cannabis industry in 2025, and let us know your thoughts on social media.
Market Trends and Popular Cannabis Product Categories in 2025
Infused pre-rolled cones are all the rage right now. With flavored hemp wraps and flavored cones — that’s all the rage; That’s the new product. I still think skilled, artisanal work… is going to transform the system.
Eshan Sett, CMO of The Cones Factory
I think the straight joints and the conical blunts are looking very interesting for the market right now. Everyone’s doing the kief dog walkers… so we’re very focused on that.
Shahar Yamay, CEO of Hefestus Technologies
Exciting Cannabis Markets Opening in 2025
We are definitely in the South American market. We’re global, of course, but South America is an interesting market for us. We seem to mirror what you read in the press. [For example], we got a ton of Australian interest, and we saw that market starting to open up. Then we saw a lot of Thai interest as you started seeing those markets open up. So, as markets continue to open up, people are interested in what they can do and how they can penetrate the marketplace. Right now, I don’t see one particular hot market. I see all of them in growth mode.
Jeffrey Meyer, COO of Industrial Sonomechanics
We’re doing very good in Holland. There’s a very nice experiment over there. We have a good friend… they’re a very big Austrian company and they have a nice operation in the Netherlands. We’re supplying them with the equipment and we’re very proud of it. And we have some others that we’re working with as well. France is interesting.
Shahar Yamay, CEO of Hefestus Technologies
Cannabis Supply Chain Predictions and Interruptions
The microchip shortage that we had with trucks and cars — there very well may be something like that that comes up in the future. The Trump administration is basically inviting a tit-for-tat trade war with China and potentially some of the areas in China’s influence. All it takes is a little bit of, ‘We’re going to categorize this technology or these specifications of chips as national security assets,’ and the flow out of China stops instantaneously…It could mean a year’s worth of redevelopment, chip, board, programming, and all the troubleshooting and development that goes into creating a product. So, there could be mass disruptions in that vein.
Ian Miller, CEO of Catalyst BC
The way you forecast your inventory becomes very, very important. During the COVID period, we released fewer products more frequently to make sure that the factory could keep up with it, that they didn’t have to shut down everything they were doing… so we would take an air freight shipment rather than a sea shipment. And so rather than once a month product coming in, we’re having product coming in once a week.
Bill Bragman, COO of Smosi
There are very random custom checks. There are regulatory requirements. The goalposts keep shifting. Sometimes, the requirements keep shifting. Terminologies keep shifting. I won’t say it’s a big, big problem, but sometimes [supply chain disruptions] come across as pedantic issues with documentation, nomenclatures, or HSN codes. So those are the areas. If we can just fine-tune these things, it’ll be a very, very smooth way of working.
Eshan Sett, CMO of The Cones Factory
Really, the global marketplace still continues to get smaller [regarding] communication. So we don’t really see a big issue there across the board. I think, for us, it’s trying to react quickly and be proactive, quick, and agile in our development.
Jeffrey Meyer, COO of Industrial Sonomechanics
Cannabis Technology Predictions for 2025
I see a lot of self-driving cars out right now. And that terrifies me, the idea of people getting their bud dropped off by a robot without the opportunity to dap up somebody and be stoked. Fortunately, California law currently prohibits any unmanned vehicles from making deliveries. That’s a technology that I can see impacting this sector. Also, this isn’t new, but with automation and packaging, I can see we do suffer some inefficiencies from changing strains, quantities, and weight denominations so frequently. There are tons of automatic packaging machines here. I have an all-star GM in the Bay running our packaging operation, and I would love to see him running one of these heavy-duty pieces of equipment and knocking it out of the park while using fewer resources overall.
Louis Samuel, Owner of Golden State Cannabis
We are seeing [technological change] through automation. That’s how we’re bringing AI and machine learning into our form and format. We want people to be able to operate their equipment easier, quicker and faster. We want [the equipment] to talk to them and then be able to measure and report, and then we can feed all that data back into things. So, how do we improve the industry? How do we improve the product? How do we improve our supply chain? That’s the way it plugs in for us — automating our equipment so that companies can be more efficient when they bring this equipment into their space.
Jeffrey Meyer, COO of Industrial Sonomechanics
2025 Cannabis Industry Policy Forecasts
On the positive side, I believe more favorable policies and regulations from the feds will come out and greatly stimulate the market for both cannabis and hemp. Especially the SAFER Act, since it would allow cannabis/hemp companies to access more standard financing resources that are currently not available to the industry. In the last two years, the hemp industry encountered a severe shortage of hemp biomass due to seasonality and extremely low acreage of hemp growths. Unfortunately, we don’t foresee any improvement of this situation in 2025 and it is expected to become much worse.
Charlie Wang, CEO of Cannvital
We’re really excited with how we are having regulation changes happening in America. I think the one thing that can really make a difference is getting cannabis moved to Schedule III… We’ve reached a stage where it’s less about business and more about regulations [settling so] businesses can evolve from there. I would take an overarching view that [says], ‘Let’s have the regulations in place; let’s have more legalizations in place; let’s have more clarity and awareness going through, and everything else will follow.’ … Let’s work that out before predicting any sharp things about the markets. But I think we need to work as a community to be better off, to reduce prosecution, to put the plant in the correct schedules, and I think things will change.
Eshan Sett, CMO of The Cones Factory
I’m not quite sure what it will take, but I get the sense that the new administration will push legislation allowing plant-touching companies to operate like other businesses. This will bring investment and new cultivators, which will push the need to increase efficiency in order to control costs and compete.
Kevin Pope, Director of Nova Aeroponics
General Trend Predictions for the 2025 Cannabis Industry
We expect to see continued market and product expansion, with an increased focus on premium cannabis products, as well as the rapid growth of hemp-derived and intoxicating hemp products. More cannabis operators will enter the hemp space, diversifying their offerings and tapping into new consumer segments. The expansion of distribution channels will be critical, as we see more retailers, e-commerce platforms, and delivery services adopting cannabis and hemp-derived products to meet rising demand, particularly in states where adult use is expanding. As the industry matures, the need for smarter regulations and a more streamlined supply chain will be vital in ensuring stability and sustainable growth.
Rebecca Maestas, VP of Marketing at Bud & Mary’s
I think customization is where things are headed. Just look around — this is a new industry that isn’t even nationwide yet, and look at how many different types of vape cartridges there are. There are more of those than fruit options in grocery stores. There’s demand for that: More flavors, more customization; I want exactly what I want when I want it; I want it now; I want it cheap; I want it fast; I want it friendly. That makes things a lot more challenging. Ultimately, I think you’re going to end up with a lot more failed businesses. You’re going to end up with people who are dreamers, but they don’t actually have the experience or the capability to do all those things. It’s all going to come down to cash. Who’s going to compete for that cash? Whoever gets it and has the right team in place to capitalize on that is going to be in a better position.
Steven Mitts, Founder & CEO of IV20
You know, I want to see everybody succeed 100%. If I had to make a prediction, I would definitely say that there are a lot of outdoor farmers doing it on a small scale who are going to drop off and not be able to plant again after outdoor-grown flower hit $250 per pound this year. That’s not sustainable. I would also say there’s no such thing as too big to fail in the cannabis industry, so there’s going to be a lot of large companies that finally run out of money and blow it.
Louis Samuel, Owner of Golden State Cannabis
I think as a community, we need to go down the education part of it and try to get people to understand that it’s not ‘devil’s weed.’ We have to bring this industry out of the dark ages. It has to be more educational, based on the potentiality of it. I think that will continue to grow the success [of the industry].
Bill Bragman, COO of Smosi
Join the Conversation in 2025 With Cannabis PR
Thank you so much to all of our contributors this year! NisonCo can’t wait to see what great things the cannabis industry will do in 2025, and we’re excited to be able to continue supporting cannabis companies in every corner of the industry. To learn how we can amplify your brand voice, contact NisonCo today.
