Pre-rolls overtake flower as top-selling cannabis product in the US

American cannabis consumers prefer pre-rolls over any other product.

Continuing a years-long trend, pre-roll unit sales grew nearly 20% last year to become the most-sold cannabis product category in the United States, according to a new report from Renton, Washington-based packaging and manufacturing company Custom Cones USA.

Pre-rolls generated $3.6 billion in sales, a nearly 10% increase from 2024, according to the report, based on numbers from cannabis analytics firm Headset.

Consumers purchased more than 383 million units, giving the category a 15.9% market share, according to the Custom Cones USA State of the Pre-Roll Market 2025, released Wednesday.

The milestone ends the long-running dominance of cannabis flower and opens a new era focused on convenience and brand execution.

Can other cannabis categories compete with pre-rolls?

“Pre-rolls are no longer an afterthought,” Custom Cones USA CEO Harrison Bard said in a statement.

“What started as a trim byproduct, pre-rolls have matured into a highly competitive, innovation-driven category where brands are winning through quality, scale and smart branding.”

Popular with Millennials, a key cannabis industry demographic, the pre-roll category has posted five consecutive years of growth, consistently outpacing the broader market, according to the report.

While the broader cannabis market crept up by 1.5% last year, pre-roll unit sales jumped 18.6%, according to Custom Cones’ reported. Meanwhile, revenue grew by 9.8% year-over-year.

Pre-rolls have the highest growth of any major category. While beverages technically grew at a faster rate, their market share is just a fraction – about one-tenth – the size of pre-rolls.

What’s fueling the growth of pre-rolls?

According to the report, several trends are driving cannabis pre-rolls’ steady growth:

• Infused pre-rolls: The high-potency products brought in $1.68 billion, making up 47% of the entire category.
• Bulk purchases: Multipacks represent nearly half of all available products on cannabis store shelves.
• Millennials: This generation accounts for nearly 44% of total pre-roll revenue.

Companies are winning market share using two different strategies.

Premium brands focus on infused multipacks with higher price tags, generating revenue through distinct flavors and high potency.

Volume-driven brands focus on affordable single-gram joints to move millions of units at a low cost.

Both models have strong profit margins, with the category averaging nearly 47%. Vertically integrated house brands perform even better, reach 55% margins.

The category is expected to expand, with Custom Cones USA forecasting 2026 revenue to reach up to $4 billion and long-term growth pushing the market above $5.2 billion by 2030.