Discover your next big idea at PACK EXPO Las Vegas this September
Experience a breakthrough in packaging & processing and transform your business with solutions from 2,300 suppliers spanning all industries.
REGISTER NOW & SAVE

Cannabis content hits its mark

The opportunities and challenges presented by the exploding cannabis market were the subject of a number of presentations at The Packaging Conference.

STO offers four rigid, childproof containers made from an additive that accelerates degradation in the landfill.
STO offers four rigid, childproof containers made from an additive that accelerates degradation in the landfill.

At The Packaging Conference, held in February in Las Vegas, a lineup of speakers presented on a very timely and largely untapped market for packagers: legalized marijuana. While event organizers questioned whether this content was at best premature and at worst unsuitable, attendees reacted overwhelmingly in the positive to the speakers.

Keynoting the day was Chris Walsh, Founding Editor and Vice President of Marijuana Business Daily, who spoke on “Going Green: Packaging the $10B Cannabis Industry.” He was there, he said, to share the facts about the industry and point out the opportunities and challenges for packagers.

“The stereotypes you may have of people in this industry are not accurate,” he said. “Dispelling the stereotypes is a big key to understanding this industry. The reality is that it is populated by diverse professionals from a variety of backgrounds—businesspeople, doctors, lawyers, investors, entrepreneurs. Big names are coming into the industry.”

Big companies are coming in as well, he added. Among them, The Scott’s Company has invested $0.5 million to provide nutrients for the industry. Constellation Brands has made a massive $4 billion investment in a Canadian cannabis company, and Coca-Cola is investing in research to see how they can get involved in cannabis-infused beverages.

“This is a massive industry,” he said, sharing that in 2018, the market was worth between $7.4B and $9.3B. Of that, $4.8B to $6B was from sales of recreational cannabis, and $2.6B to $3.3B from sales of medical marijuana. By 2022, the legal marijuana market is expected to reach $19.8B to $24.3B ($19.8B to $24.3B recreational; $14B to $17B medical).

Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Take me there
Conveying Innovations Report
Annual Outlook Report: Sustainability
The road ahead for CPGs in 2025 and beyond—<i>Packaging World</i> editors review key findings from a survey of 88 brand owners, CPG, and FMCG readers.
Download Now
Annual Outlook Report: Sustainability