NEW YORK – LeafLink, the cannabis industry’s wholesale marketplace, today released its 2020 LeafLink List, an annual cannabis industry award series celebrating the incredible businesses in the LeafLink community and how they’re molding the future of the industry with their expertise and innovation. This year’s list features more than 148 winners from 16 U.S. cannabis markets across 20 categories.
LeafLink List is formed by analyzing products, brands and retailers on LeafLink’s marketplace in 2020, and reviewing data from January 1st, 2020 to September 1st, 2020 for quantitative categories. The list recognizes Top Selling Enterprise and Emerging Brands, Top Buying and Fastest Growing retailers, and top performing products across 8 popular categories. The winners of two new categories, Community Favorites and Leaders in Social Responsibility, are sourced through a nomination process involving the entire LeafLink Community. The former spotlights the top brands and retailers to work with, according to LeafLink’s clients, while the latter features companies known for their commitment to diversity and inclusion, sustainability and other initiatives that help advance the cannabis industry.
“LeafLink List is our way of honoring the remarkable brands, distributors, and retailers we work with, who, on a daily basis, help push the industry forward with their hard work and ingenuity,” said Ryan G. Smith, CEO and Co-founder of LeafLink. “This year, we decided to introduce two new categories, one giving a voice to brands and retailers on LeafLink’s platform, and the other recognizing the companies addressing some of the industry’s most pressing and relevant issues. The cannabis space is constantly evolving and it’s incredible to watch these companies innovate alongside it.”
LeafLink’s B2B cannabis marketplace powers an estimated 32% of the U.S. wholesale cannabis market, making it the nation’s largest source of industry wholesale data. The platform connects 5,600+ retailers with 1,700+ brands across 26 markets in North America, processing over $3.1 billion in annualized wholesale cannabis orders.
LeafLink List also highlights the overall growth and advancement of the cannabis industry in 2020. In addition to showcasing Industry Innovators, the awards shine a spotlight on the year’s most dominant product trends. As of September 2020, the wholesale cannabis industry had grown by 118% year-over-year, and the top performing brands and retailers contributed directly to this growth. This year’s five Top Performing retailers purchased 24% more in 2020 compared to the top retailers in 2019. This year’s five Top Performing Brands sold 31% more in 2020 compared to 2019. You can find the full list of top brands, products, and retailers in each category according to LeafLink data here.
About LeafLink
LeafLink, the cannabis industry’s wholesale marketplace, is defining the way thousands of cannabis brands and retailers manage and track their orders and relationships, so they can focus on growing their businesses. Retailers who previously called, emailed, or texted 50+ sales reps to place an order, now save a day per week ordering all their cannabis brands in one cart on LeafLink. The e-commerce marketplace empowers brands, distributors, and retailers who want to streamline the ordering process, simplify communication, and spend less time on administrative work. The company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto, and is live in 26 markets across the United States and Canada. Cannabis retailers and brands use LeafLink to manage over $3.1B+ in annual orders, making up an estimated 32% of US wholesale cannabis commerce. Backed by leading venture capital firms and strategic investors such as Thrive Capital, Nosara Capital and Lerer Hippeau, LeafLink has raised more than US$51 million to date. Learn more at https://leaflink.com/.
