Larry Levin
Executive Vice President, Consumer and Shopper Marketing
IRI
Larry serves as executive vice president within IRI's Consumer and Shopper Marketing (CSM) Center of Excellence. In his role, Larry oversees the commercial sales strategy for all of IRI's new consumer and shopper products, and he leads its survey and new product innovation growth sectors within the CSM Center of Excellence.
Larry joined IRI in February 2010 to lead its Survey Solutions group and was then promoted to run its overall Consumer Insights business. In 2012, he assumed the leadership of IRI's Mid-Market vertical, further driving IRI's portfolio among this wide-ranging industry portfolio. In 2016, Larry rejoined IRI's CSM organization to drive the aforementioned solutions across IRI's portfolio of clients.
Larry is a frequent speaker at a number of industry events, including Shopper Marketing, HOP—State of Mass Beauty, FMI, Drugstore News/Elevation Forum, NACDS, New Products Innovation, NFRA, Convenience Retailer University and CSPA. He has been a guest on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance" program and has been quoted in numerous periodicals.
Legal US cannabis sales passed $17.5 billion in 2020, a 46% increase over 2019’s $12.1 billion. And market tracker BDSA forecasts U.S. sales will reach $41.3 billion in 2026, a CAGR of 15%. Looking at the market a little more closely, BDSA estimates that food and beverage edibles (including gummies) constitute 15% of total CBD dollar sales sold through retail dispensaries and food and beverage will generate nearly 30% of retail sales by 2025. There are even greater prospects for mainstream retail and foodservice sales as more consumers become familiar with cannabis edibles and market grows. This bodes well for traditional cannabis product food and beverage processors as well as those active CPG giants (including Molson Coors and Ocean Spray) already exploring the market. What do the experts predict when it comes to mainstream market opportunities, cannabis ingredients, product development, labeling, safety and more?