3 Essentials for Choosing Preroll Packaging

Are you considering packaging your top-shelf flower in prerolled form? If not, maybe you should be. The popularity of prerolls is growing as quickly as the recreational market, and prerolls have a higher perceived value than loose flower, thus fetching a premium price. Packaging prerolls, however, poses special challenges.

Preroll packaging requires product protection, branding, and — of course — child-resistance. Ultimately, the preroll packaging that’s right for you will meet your state regulations, budget, and product configuration (i.e., multi-pack or single).

For some applications, a simple pouch may be best. For other brands, more distinctive preroll packaging may be in order. In this blog, we explore the top three considerations of preroll packaging and the best solutions available today.

#1 Pre-Roll Packaging Should Build Your Brand

Branding is everything with prerolls. Marketing premium flower has always been a branding-intensive activity; consumers can rarely tell a difference in quality at first glance. Sometimes, regulators require that all cannabis at the retail dispensary be sealed, which prohibits consumers from assessing the product by smell. But with prerolls, consumers aren’t even able to see the plant material to assess its quality.

Because branding is so important, the ubiquitous “plastic pop-top tube” for preroll packaging can’t compete in a crowded market. Even with a well-designed label, generic preroll tubes convey the wrong message: that your product is as unexceptional as the packaging. Customers won’t remember your company. And they also won’t give your craft-quality flower the consideration it deserves.

However, achieving a well-branded package design doesn’t need to cost you a fortune. If you’re packaging single prerolls, you may get by with a simple pouch and distinctive graphics. High-end printing techniques and metallic inks can set your prerolls apart without the added expense of more substantial packaging. Pouches give you ample room for graphics, and that raises your product above prerolls packaged in plastic squeeze-top tubes.

Another minimalist solution that can stand out without breaking the bank is a blister pack, like the AssurCard^® from AssurPack.^® The AssurCard^® can be configured as a single-preroll blister or contain multiple, individually sealed prerolls. This package provides a “sealed” smell-proof package to extend your shelf life. When enhanced with full-color printing, UV gloss, and matte coatings on the paper board, a blister pack can assert your brand while providing great product protection.

For a truly premium brand experience, you’ll want a more substantial — and possibly reusable — packaging solution. If you’re marketing preroll multi-packs, you might want to consider the SecurSlide^® MatchBox 4 from AssurPack^®.

The SecurSlide^® MatchBox 4 is a matchbox-style, child-resistant box that fits four-inch prerolls and has custom-shaped fluting to keep them securely in place. It’s child-resistant drawer releases with a gentle squeeze and closes with an affirmative snap. Moreover, its crushproof design is perfect for on-the-go use and can be used again and again, keeping your brand name top-of-mind long after the product is gone.

#2 Pre-Roll Packaging Should Be Child-Resistant

If your jurisdiction doesn’t require child-resistant packaging, it should — and you can expect that it will soon. As the industry matures stakeholders are pressuring regulators for uniform packaging standards that would apply to all states. And if you’re planning to expand into other markets, you’ll want to cover your bases with stringent child-resistance standards.

Prerolls present less danger to children than edibles and infused products but, in most states, they’re still required to meet demanding standards. In fact, cannabis product packaging must be rated F=1 in many jurisdictions; that’s the most protective standard possible for pharmaceuticals.

AssurPack^® designs packaging products with safety standards in mind. Our single-preroll and multi-preroll packages all meet the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards, yet they use a variety of patented technologies to meet the requirement.

The MarBox-CR^®, for example, uses a sliding latch to prevent child access. It’s a cigarette-style, polypropylene box with a flip-top opening. The AssurCard^® (mentioned above) uses a specialized heat seal backing that keeps kids safe — and products fresh.

Regardless of your choice in packaging, make sure that it’s compliant for the safety of consumers — and the safety of your brand, too!

#3 Pre-Roll Packaging Should Preserve the Environment

Balancing sustainability with product protection is tough yet essential. As prerolls have become more popular, a massive quantity of hard-to-recycle plastic has filled our landfills and oceans.

Some sustainable packaging technologies are indeed environmentally friendly — but at the expense of product protection. They struggle to achieve the moisture resistance needed to deliver a quality product. At AssurPack^®, we recognize the importance of real-world solutions to sustainability needs and are working to protect the environment as well as your product.

The SecurSlide BP^® features a formulation of 50% wheat straw resin. When wheat straw — a naturally renewable resource — combines with conventional plastic, it offers the structural integrity of the original SecurSlide^® with a significant reduction in carbon emissions. And when the SecurSlide BP^® is ready for disposal it can enter the recycling stream as a normal #7 plastic.

A sustainable package can enhance your brand, too, as an increasing number of consumers strive to reduce their use. More than half of young consumers say they’re willing to pay more for sustainable products. So make sure to note that your packaging — the SecurSlide BP^® — contains bioplastic and that it’s easily recyclable.

Because consumer interest in prerolls continues to expand, AssurPack^® engineers are hard at work to develop additional multi-pack and single-preroll packaging. Be on the lookout for new designs that check all the boxes of what a preroll package should be: sustainable, child-resistant, product protective, and brand-enhancing. To find out more about the SecurSlide BP or other AssurPack^® preroll solutions, contact your representative today.