Over the course of three years, across 13 regulated U.S. markets, BayMedica, a company specializing in the production and distribution of rare cannabinoids, identified three key insights into market demand for these compounds. First, products featuring THCV posted a 23.7% higher average retail margin than comparable products without THCV in this dataset. Second, gummies remain the dominant—and most manageable—format for launching rare cannabinoids. Third, CBC is underused, and there’s no widely adopted standard for how companies combine and label these ingredients. 

How should distributors, brands, and retailers consider this new data when integrating minor cannabinoids into their business offerings?

Distributors: Reduce Friction and Raise Confidence                                              Distributors sit at the choke point where product clarity becomes market velocity. They should start by standardizing the information they pass downstream. A single-page spec for every SKU—ingredient identity, milligrams per unit, pack sizes, storage notes, and a scannable link to the current COA—turns questions into confidence at the store level. 

They should keep a live COA library and make it a habit to swap links as labs update results, so retailers aren’t hosting outdated paperwork. Regarding assortment, mirror what the dataset suggests: produce gummies first, with at least one THCV gummy and one CBC gummy from different brands to compare packaging clarity, price bands, and return reasons. 

Brands: Lead with Clarity and Consistent Specs                                                                For brands, the focus should be to lead with labels that say plainly what cannabinoids are in the product and how much per unit, and make the QR to the current COA impossible to miss. Because gummies dominate in the data, they’re a smart place to validate demand before branching into capsules, beverages, or tinctures. When expanding formats, explain the differences in everyday terms to avoid confusion for end users regarding cannabinoid profiles. 

Retailers: Make the Shelf Make sense                                                                        Shoppers buy what they understand at a glance, and the dataset helps show how consumer preferences are skewing. Organize shelves and displays by format first, such as grouping gummies, then by featured ingredient within that set, so a THCV row sits next to a CBC row and a multi-ingredient row. 

At eye level, keep the labels readable and the COA QR code scannable; a small counter card that explains, “Scan this to view the current certificate of analysis,” does more to build trust than any lengthy description. Train staff on a short, factual script: “This product features THCV, the format is a gummy, and there are X milligrams per piece; you can scan the COA here.” The goal is clarity, not conjecture.

Education Wins                                                                                                         Distributors win by moving clean information as reliably as they move boxes. Brands win by making specs so clear that sell-in becomes routine. Retailers win by arranging shelves the way people actually shop and by measuring what truly drives performance. Start with a tight set of THCV and CBC gummies and make labels and COAs effortless to read and understand for consumers. That’s how the minor cannabinoid category grows. 

To review the full report findings, please request a copy here.

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