The New York cannabis industry pulled up heavy for Revelry Buyers Club Hudson 2026 on May 13th. This was an event designed specifically for buyers and brands to mix, mingle, showcase new products, and coordinate orders. With roughly 562 retailers in attendance, a ton of brands exhibiting, and only six hours to make things happen, everyone really had to make use of their time.
Spending the day walking the showroom floors and exploring the various outside spaces with our sponsor InfiniteCAL New York was great. We linked with a bunch of brands we hadn’t yet seen or heard of, and were able to conduct a few really great interviews with the mother and son duo over at All That Chocolate, Marianne of Alibi Cannabis, the CEO of High 5’s five-time infused prerolls, and Nick, the Founder and CEO of Golden State Banana.
Within the first hour alone, it was clear the New York cannabis scene is entering another phase of maturity where presentation, product differentiation, and overall consumer experience are more important than ever. And honestly, that’s a good thing for the market.
For a second there, I was worried we might’ve gone too far down the hype brand rabbit hole, but it looks like the craft side of the industry is really starting to fill out nicely.
I’m also super excited to share that I’ve discovered the newest “best weed gummy” in the United States. It comes from a brand called Loosie who has a chocolate covered cherry gummy pack that was not only delicious, it quite literally left my mouth watering and salivating for more. I remember looking at Abel, RMR’s Director of Media, and saying, “I think this might be the best gummy we’ve ever had,” before turning to the team at Loosie and sharing the same thoughts.
What an incredible experience.
Meeting brands, trying products, talking with operators from across the state, and connecting with the retailers that we have interviewed on the RMR Podcast, one thing became pretty obvious right away, New York is still wave. Buyers moved nonstop between tables and lounges, and conversations about retail, distribution, product quality, branding, licensing, and market positioning were happening everywhere you looked.
One of my favorite parts of the Revelry Buyers Club Hudson event was physically seeing buyers ask the brands to put together orders for them, and then watching the brands pull out order sheets and lock the orders in right there on the spot.
Over the last few years, New York cannabis has dealt with plenty of turbulence, licensing delays, enforcement questions, gray market complications, and rollout frustrations. But walking through Revelry Buyers’ Club in Hudson felt different. The energy felt more centralized. More focused. More serious. More polished.
Across New York State, the majority of dispensary owners are legacy operators.
Retail buyers. Multi state brands. Smaller independent companies. Hash makers. Beverage brands. Edible companies. Prerolls. Point of Sale and Ecommerce companies like Treez. Anything your dispensary needed to grow, or differentiate itself, was at this Hudson Revelry Buyer’s Club.
For brands there was supply chain resources and white label opportunities. Media people. Podcasters. Consultants. Marketing services. Everyone was moving and shaking, making deals happen when possible.
The Ayrloom Lounge Was One of the Best Activations at the Event
One of the standout experiences from the day came from the Ayrloom lounge setup. Outside and away from the commotion, the activation itself felt like a regular beverage activation without trying too hard. Comfortable seating, strong branding, a relaxed atmosphere, and products that didn’t need a pitch, you just have to try them.
In a crowded event environment where tons of brands are all competing for attention simultaneously, creating a space where people genuinely wanted to stop and spend time is super important, especially if you want to capture business. Ayrloom accomplished that.
The brand has continued building momentum throughout New York by focusing heavily on flavor-driven products, recognizable branding, and the fact that just about every dispensary in the state has Ayrloom beverages stocked.
Across the event as a whole, two products in particular stood out above the rest. The lipstick weed vape from Rosie’s (pictured in the featured image) and the Chocolate Covered Fruit Punch Gummies from Loosie (pictured below).
Visually, the vape instantly caught my attention because it did not look like a traditional vape brand, or your standard device. The vape itself was housed in an elegant branded case and features a sleek all-in-one-style cannabis vape with a custom tip shaped like a tip for lip-gloss.
But beyond aesthetics, the functionality and overall experience were impressive. Compact, smooth hitting, flavorful, and actually differentiated from a lot of the average oil flooding legal cannabis markets right now.
The vape category has become extremely crowded nationally. Most companies are fighting over similar hardware, similar terpene profiles, similar oil quality, and similar packaging structures.
When something actually feels unique while still delivering a quality experience, it stands out fast.
The lipstick vape definitely did that.
The Cherry Chocolate Gummy Might Legitimately Be One of the Best Gummies in the Country
Out of all the edibles we tried during Revelry Buyers’ Club, one product completely separated itself from almost everything else. A cherry gummy covered in chocolate. And honestly, it has officially entered the chat to be in the conversation for one of the best cannabis gummies in the country.
Not New York.
Not East Coast.
Country.
The flavor balance was ridiculous. The cherry profile actually tasted real instead of artificial, the chocolate coating elevated the texture completely, and the edible experience itself felt elevated beyond what most gummy products currently offer in legal cannabis markets.
Consumers are getting more sophisticated. The average customer now expects better flavor execution, cleaner ingredients, better texture, better onset timing, and more refined dosing experiences. The days of consumers blindly buying low quality gummies just because they contain THC are fading quickly in stronger legal markets.
Products actually need to compete with mainstream food quality now.
This gummy absolutely felt like it understood that assignment.
Alibi Cannabis Brought Serious Heat With Their New Solventless Live Rosin Joints
Another major standout from the event came from Alibi Cannabis and their new solventless live rosin infused joints. These were impressive. Potent, flavorful, smooth, it was everything I wanted from a preroll.
The quality difference was noticeable immediately from both a flavor and smoking perspective. The joints burned well, delivered strong terpene presence, and avoided the overly harsh experience that sometimes happens with infused products trying too aggressively to maximize potency.
That balance is hard to achieve.
A lot of infused pre rolls across legal markets still struggle with consistency, airflow issues, uneven burns, or concentrate overload that compromises the actual flower experience. Alibi’s solventless live rosin joints felt much more refined and intentional.
You could tell actual thought went into the formulation.
And right now, solventless products continue becoming one of the most important premium categories in cannabis nationally.
Consumers are increasingly educated about hash quality, extraction methods, terpene preservation, and clean manufacturing processes. Solventless branding carries real weight with experienced consumers, especially in mature markets where buyers are actively seeking cleaner and more flavor forward experiences.
Seeing more New York brands leaning aggressively into quality solventless products is a strong sign for where the market could continue heading.
New York Cannabis Feels More Competitive Than Ever
One thing Revelry Buyers’ Club made very clear is that the New York cannabis market is becoming significantly more competitive.
Brand presentation has improved dramatically.
Packaging looked stronger across the board. Booth designs felt more polished. Product quality overall seems to be improving. Companies are thinking more carefully about how they position themselves culturally and commercially.
That’s exactly what should be happening at this stage of market development.
The early phases of legal cannabis markets are often chaotic. Everyone rushes in. Product quality varies wildly. Branding feels inconsistent. Supply chains fluctuate. Retail experiences remain uneven.
But eventually the stronger operators begin separating themselves.
Revelry Buyers’ Club felt like a snapshot of that transition happening in real time. Tons of motion. Big moves already going down. Expansion and consolidation happening all around us.
There are still challenges in New York cannabis, absolutely. Licensing bottlenecks, enforcement inconsistencies, taxation pressure, and operational costs remain major conversations throughout the state.
But culturally and creatively, the market still feels very alive.
The energy across New York is unmatched across the country.
If there was one consistent frustration throughout the event, it was simply not having enough time and not having enough space.
Six hours was nowhere near enough time to fully experience the entire event properly and there was just too many booths in the indoor spaces. We couldn’t hear or communicate with booths very well, plus we were tripping over tent straps and other people at every turn.
I’m normally all for selling out an event and packing tons of great brands and opportunities into a tradeshow, but sometimes less is really more in terms of value and experience.
If anything, how packed the event was speaks to how much momentum currently exists around New York cannabis networking and relationship building.
Buyers were actively engaged. Brands were taking meetings seriously. People weren’t just showing up for free samples and leaving.
There was actual business happening.
And that’s ultimately what events like Revelry Buyers’ Club are supposed to facilitate.
Revelry Continues Becoming an Important East Coast Cannabis Platform
At this point, Revelry has already solidified itself as one of the more important event platforms on the East Coast cannabis scene. The Hudson event brought together a strong combination of licensed operators, emerging brands, media, buyers, and industry professionals while still maintaining enough cultural energy to avoid feeling overly corporate or transactional.
That balance is difficult for some, but not for Revelry.
Some cannabis trade events become too sterile. Others become too chaotic. Revelry Buyers’ Club managed to land somewhere in the middle where serious business conversations and authentic cannabis culture could still coexist naturally.
And after walking out of Hudson, one thing felt pretty clear.
New York cannabis still has a long way to go operationally, but the product quality, creativity, and brand energy inside the market continue trending in a very strong direction.
Big love to everyone in New York and thank you to Revelry for your hard work!
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