ABOUT THE 2024
SOLVENTLESS CUP
A new competition is coming to Western New York, brought to you by the team behind the Amsterdam Coffeeshop Awards, and we invite you to join us.
With the growing cannabis market in New York, the Solventless Cup can provide excellent marketing opportunities for your brand. Additionally, with the recent approval of home cultivation regulations, the market is about to grow even larger!
WHY SOLVENTLESS?
Unpurged products pose a hazard of residue or potentially hazardous solvents for inhalation, which makes solventless extracts the preferred concentrate among health-conscious consumers. For this reason, at the Solventless Cup, we have chosen to exclusively highlight solventless products. This will increase awareness of solventless processing techniques, healthy consumption, and the best solventless products available for consumers who value their health. Sifting, ice water extraction, and pressing are examples of solventless techniques.
WHY WESTERN NEW YORK?
With 15.8 million adults in New York State, some 2.7 million New Yorkers 18 or older have admitted to using cannabis at least once a month, state regulators revealed. That’s a whopping 17% of New York adults who admit to consuming cannabis products at least once a month.
New York may have legalized cannabis in 2021. However, with many delays, the retail market was slow to gain momentum, seeing its first round of adult-use recreational dispensaries by early 2023. While this delay persisted, Native American nations began to license legal dispensaries on their land.
Now, in 2024, the state has issued around 275 provisional licenses for recreational dispensaries, of which 135 are currently in operation. An additional 150+ are registered with their sovereign nation. With over 260 dispensaries across the state, around a third of the dispensaries operate within the Western New York region.
Solventless Cup can easily enhance marketing exposure for your brand, further driving up your target audience by presenting your brand to potential customers, whether they are consumers or B2B clients. With hundreds of outlets right here in the region, the 710 Solventless Cup can provide the perfect space to advertise your brand.
NETWORKING EVENTS, WORKSHOPS, & AWARD CEREMONY
With 710 falling on a Wednesday this year, we have strategically used this to our advantage. This allows us to create a variety of events at different locations across multiple days, as opposed to just 1-day or 1-weekend at a single location. These events allow for unique marketing visibility for your brand.
Judging for the Solventless Cup will take place from July 5th – 10th, with the award ceremony and party in Downtown Buffalo, NY on July 10. Networking events, dispensary sessions, and other activities will be organized across the region on Friday July 5, 6, & 7.
CUP COMPETITION & PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS
710 Solventless Cup will honor the best across the region in two distinctive areas. A total of 11 different categories will highlight the best solventless products and services around: 4 awarded by industry analysis, and 7 awarded by people’s choice.
The 4 industry awarded categories will include WPFF Hash, Sifted Hash, Live Rosin, Rosin Cart, and Edibles (solventless-based), and will be analyzed by a panel of experts in their respective fields. We recognize that, in addition to providing superior products, customer service and education are essential. Solventless Cup has developed an approach for customers to express their appreciation. 7 People’s Choice categories include Most Knowledgeable Staff, Budtender Of The Year, Best Dab-Bar, Best Glass Artist, Best Processor, and Best Solventless Menu.
The People’s Choice nominations will open for 2 weeks on June 11th, with the voting round commencing on June 25th for the 2 weeks leading up to the award ceremony on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. This 4-week period enables an effective marketing campaign. QR voting cards will be on display at all dispensaries in the region, plus headshops and other outlets.