The owner of a Burlington cannabis shop is hosting a weed “farmers market” featuring growers and producers who will be on hand to speak with customers about their products.
Joshua Decatur of Heybud Dispensary says other stores have hosted “vendor days” where producers pitch their products. But he claims his event, on Sunday, March 24, will be the state’s first full-fledged cannabis market, with multiple producers, food and even non-cannabis items.
Vermont prohibits cannabis farmers and producers from selling directly to consumers, requiring that all products are sold in one of the dozens of licensed stores statewide. Decatur’s “cultivator showcase” is intended “to build a connection between farmers and the people actually using and purchasing their products,” he said, “and a way to support farmers and not make retailers wall off a whole part of the market.”
At the Burlington event, which runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., producers will set up tables inside a gallery space in the Karma Bird House building at 47 Maple Street. Customers — 21 and over — can speak with them and browse available products. Actual orders will be filled at the Heybud dispensary, a tiny shop in the building.
Producers will pull in 70 percent of the sales price, while 30 percent will pay for taxes and event operating costs, Decatur said.
“It’ll be the same as any other dispensary purchase,” Decatur said. “The only differences will be special inventory being sold under special terms.”
Decatur said he hopes to hold such events monthly. He’s also talked to other local retailers that will carry “farmers market picks” as a way to highlight the products featured at the events. Decatur likened it to Vermont’s craft beer industry, in which some breweries will collaborate with others or feature partner beers on tap.
He said he’s already heard from other cannabis shops that want to replicate his market idea.
“It’d be a way to make it more of a community feel in the industry, instead of an overly competitive, almost aggressive culture that exists right now,” Decatur said. “And I think people will find that it’s good for everybody.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Farm to Tabling”
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2024.
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