We know the launch of adult-use cannabis in Connecticut has not been perfect. We know there has been an impact on patients, many of whom have been with us since we opened in 2019 and have grown with us since then.
We wanted to let you know we are listening to feedback that is being shared over social media, emails, and in-store with our staff. We are aware of the current realities with product shortage and pricing concerns, and we are fully committed to making them better. This is new for everyone: patients, customers, dispensaries, growers, and Fine Fettle. There will continue to be growing pains, but we wanted to take the time to discuss some of the key issues.
Menu - The medical menu has shrunk. We used to hold between 300-400+ cannabis products (excluding accessories), but now have around 180. We have always catered to the needs and preferences of our patients, ordering anything and everything that was available or requested.
Since the launch of AU on 1/10/23, we have been ordering almost every single product made available to us, in the full allotments offered. If you compare our medical menu to other dispensaries, we still have the largest medical menu in the state. Still, our menu is lacking options our patients are used to seeing, including but not limited to: baked goods, capsules, topicals, concentrates, bulk flower, and “Final Fettles” flower/vape cartridges/pre-rolls.
Here is the reality:
- As producers have ramped up gummy supply, they have decreased the availability of other edibles.
- Concentrate production has slowed down immensely, with producers focusing on a few select items versus an abundance of options.
- Flower has only mostly been available in 1g single pre-rolls, pre-roll packs, and eighths (3.5g) - we have seen no grind or larger bulk packaging (7g, 14g, 28g).
We have urged each of the producers to bring back these options for patients.
Pricing -We know you have concerns about the current pricing - we hear you. The prices of products made available to all dispensaries have gone up, except for medical only products. To have flower options available to our patients, we have to stock what is available to us, even if it is more expensive for us to acquire.
Here is our solution:
- We have lowered our prices on certain products on our menu that are also available to our adult-use customers, to reduce the change in pricing for our patients as much as possible.
- We have kept, and always will keep, bulk discounts on flower and vape products! Buy 2 or more units of flower and receive 5% off and/or buy 4 or more vapes to receive 10% off. This discount is built into our online menu so you will always know what your total is when shopping our menu (before any group discounts such as veteran, senior citizen, compassionate need, etc).
As one of the few CT owned dispensaries left, we try hard to keep prices the same or lower than our competitors, but we can’t compete with the vertically integrated dispensaries.
Hours -One complaint we received prior to adult-use was, "You're not open late enough and closed Sunday, boooo!!" This issue has been resolved.
- Now, all locations are open for medical patients Monday-Saturday 9:00am-8:00pm and Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm (except for holidays and special occasions, which will always be announced and communicated ahead of time).
Holding Orders -If you are a medical patient, please know we will hold your order all day! We are not forcing you into shorter pickup windows. We do have you select a pickup window at checkout so we can organize when your order is processed and completed by our staff. You can always leave us a note if you are concerned about your scheduled pickup!
What else are we doing? -If you plan to order products from the adult-use menu, you absolutely can, and your purchase of those products will always be tax-free. We hope to continue building our medical menu to the point where you don’t even need to browse the adult-use menu, but we understand in this current situation that you may need to make selections from both menus.
We will continue to advocate to both the producers and DCP to work on getting more options. We are partnering with social equity delivery companies to make accessibility easier. We are now licensed to a grow facility and are working on our plans to bring more products to the state and menu.
We know some of these changes have been frustrating. We appreciate you for sticking by us. We promise to continue to listen and work to bring the best experience imaginable, one you have come to expect in the Fine Fettle Fam for the past 3.5 years.