MJ Unpacked descended on the Show-Me State for the second consecutive year, bringing with it a bevy of cannabis operators, brands, cultivators, retailers, and more for three days of showcasing and networking at St. Louis landmark, Union Station. From tech innovators like Sorting Robotics to established players like Rove, MJ Unpacked’s Midwest show drew in top talent from across the country, and for good reason.
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Having ranked as the top five adult-use market in the country, with cumulative sales of $5 billion as of May 2025, Missouri is showing no signs of slowing down. Mixing its sales success with the state’s central location, it should come as no surprise that it’s not just Midwestern adult use businesses finding value in Missouri.
“I think Missouri is a very cool market, it’s one of the better markets,” said Michael Klein, chairman and co-founder of Arcana Collective, LLC, a collective uniting cannabis breeders, cultivators, and business executives based in Washington state. “It’s one of the better markets in the country where you can actually survive,” said Klein.
In addition to Missouri’s knack for paying attention to the triumphs and tribulations of other adult-use markets, the Show-Me State has done a good job of prioritizing community and working with smaller brands and cultivators who would normally be squeezed out of one of the most competitive industries in the country. The Missouri microbusiness license has enabled dozens of operators to remain in business, contributing to the sense of community building within the Missouri market.
For Wendy Campbell, vice president of sales at MJ Unpacked, community building is the end goal of the highly influential trade show.
“We might be a national even, but we are always evolving,” said Campbell. “Being in the room to shape the conversation, to move the industry forward, and focus on industry education, relationship building, and collaborating at the local level are so important.”
Nobody better exemplifies finding success at the local level than Proper Brands, one of the top five best-selling cannabis brands in Missouri. Proper is a vertically integrated cannabis company that includes 11 retail locations and popular edibles brands like Honeybee and RATIO.
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Natalie Whiteside, wholesale partnership manager at Proper Cannabis, summed up the Missouri market best when she said, “We’re really good at pushing community over competition. We’re fighting the big fight against destigmatizing cannabis, which I think is really powerful because we’re all fighting against the same thing. We want to be normalized, legalized, and accessible.”
And if there’s one thing that can bring people together more than cannabis, it’s puppies. Yes, Nestle Purina, headquartered in St. Louis, rolled into MJ Unpacked with their very own pet adoption booth where guests were welcome to meet and play with the cutest puppies and kittens west of the Mississippi. It was especially heartwarming to watch the number of adoptable pets shrink as the show went on. A genius move by MJ Unpacked, absolutely, but also another testament to their ability to bring people together from all parts of the country.
*This article was submitted by a guest contributor. The author is solely responsible for the content.