Ah, the humble pre-roll.
While once an afterthought for shoppers at dispensaries, pre-rolls have rose to prominence and now rank as the third highest grossing cannabis product in America. And the category shows no signs of stopping, with five consecutive years of growth and over $3.5 billion in total sales in 2025.
But what about the CBD pre-roll, the smallest segment in pre-rolls? At only 0.2% of total pre-roll sales across the 14 tracked markets by Seattle-based cannabis analytics firm Headset, the CBD pre-roll market still pulls in nearly $6 million in sales annually on 600,000 CBD pre-roll units sold.
And growth is steady, with total sales increasing 28% between 2023 and 2025, with unit sales increasing a whopping 45% over that same time period.
So what should we expect from the CBD pre-roll market in 2026? You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
With 120 brands selling 299 CBD pre-roll products, there is competition in the market, but with an average of three new brands coming on the market annually since 2023, it’s a largely blue ocean market showing a significant opportunity for growth.
Who’s Winning The CBD Pre-Roll Market
Controlling 29% of the national CBD pre-roll market, Pure Beauty is the far-and-away leader in hemp pre-rolls. With $1.7 million in sales and 44,600 units moved on just five CBD pre-roll products, the California-based company easily outpaces the $525,000 in sales from second-place Phat Panda of Washington.
Two of the three top selling products nationally belong to Pure Beauty, both 10-count multipacks of their 0.25-gram Pure Beauty Babies, but the White Box version takes the cake with 4 times the sales of their Special Blend Babies. But when it comes to the brand that dominates unit sales, the title of top-dog goes to Phat Panda’s Platinum 1-gram Trophy Wife pre-roll, moving 152,000 units compared to the 41,000 units sold by Pure Beauties top two products.
The one major difference between the three top products is the price, with Pure Beauty’s 10-packs averaging $38.50 compares to a $2.56 price tag for Phat Panda’s one-grammer. In fact, less than 20% of the top 25 CBD pre-roll products were single-serving products, with 21 being multi-packs carrying a higher price tag.
Rounding out the top five brands is Henry’s Original at number three, moving about 19,000 units for $281,000 in total sales, East Fork Cultivators with $253,000 in sales on around 19,000 units, and up-and-coming Birdies at number five with $251,000 in sales on 10,000 CBD pre-roll units sold.
CBD Pre-Roll Formats And Price Dynamics
In line with the pre-roll category as a whole, multi-packs are key to attracting consumers, with 85% of the top CBD pre-roll products consisting of multiple rolls. Zooming out, only 29% of CBD pre-roll sales are single pre-roll products, though they win the unit sales battle, moving 69% of the segments pre-roll sales.
The 3.5-gram multi-pack is the most popular format in the segment with 38% of sales and 12.5% of unit sales, while the 1-gram single pre-roll accounts for 25.7% of total sales with a segment leading 62% of unit sales. The average unit price of a single serving CBD pre-roll is $5.42, with multi-packs carrying an average price tag of $29.66, so in makes sense why producers lean toward the higher priced multi-pack.
And the average item price for CBD pre-rolls have steadily decreased over the years, with the average price for a product in 2022 costing $14.04 compared to $10.34, a 26% reduction in price.
Another category trend bucked by the CBD segment is the sale of infused pre-rolls. Among the top 50 products for the category as a whole, 82% of the top 50 products are infused, while only 2% of the top 50 CBD pre-rolls are infused. Though the gap is drastic, it does make sense, as cannabis consumers chase higher THC content while CBD buyers are often not looking for high the addition of a concentrate brings to the mix.
And finally, the leaders of CBD sales reside on the Left Coast, with California controlling 55% of the market, Washington at 17%, and Oregon coming in third at 6.4%
The Opportunity In CBD Pre-Rolls
Though the size of the CBD pre-roll market is only a sliver of the entire pre-roll market, a sliver of $3.5 billion still yields opportunity. And with fewer brands competing, there is a chance to make a real splash in the segment.
For those looking to succeed, the two formats you’ll have to carry are the overwhelming leaders of unit sales, the volume-moving single 1-gram pre-roll, and the multi-pack size that controls over a third of total sales in CBD pre-rolls, the powerhouse 3.5-gram pack.
For single 1-gram pre-rolls, an average item price of $5.79 will keep you in line with the, while a 3.5-gram multipack should average out around $35. And when it comes to product variety, quality and recognition come before volume, with 4 of the top 5 CBD pre-roll brands carrying less than 14 products.
For pre-roll brands looking to expand into new markets and segments, CBD pre-rolls offer a world of possibilities.
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