# MariMed grew wholesale revenue 11% in 2025 by pushing branded product into new state channels

*Six years of positive EBITDA shows how a disciplined wholesale-first strategy scales without burning cash.*

By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC.
Published 2026-07-26.

Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/marimed-2026-07-26t18-5
Subject: MariMed
Tags: wholesale, distribution, cannabis, ebitda, channel strategy, physical product

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MariMed reported **11%** growth in wholesale revenue in 2025 and posted its sixth consecutive year of positive adjusted EBITDA, according to the company's 2026 growth strategy announcement covered by MSN. The cannabis producer achieved this by placing branded products—edibles, vapes, concentrates—into retail channels across multiple states, emphasizing distribution density over retail footprint expansion. CEO Jon Levine noted overall revenue rose **1%** in 2025, meaning the wholesale segment carried the growth while other channels stayed flat.

The company runs a wholesale-led model: it manufactures branded cannabis products in licensed facilities, then places those SKUs in third-party dispensaries under partnership or licensing agreements. MariMed operates in Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri, and announced plans to enter Ohio and Pennsylvania in 2026. The distribution play hinges on getting the same branded item—say, a Betty's Eddies fruit chew—onto shelves in dozens of stores without owning the real estate or hiring the budtenders. Revenue comes from product sales to the retailer, not from retail margin.

This works because the company avoids the capital trap of vertical integration. Opening a new dispensary in a regulated cannabis market costs upward of half a million dollars in buildout, licensing, and staffing before the first sale. Wholesale shifts that burden to the retailer. MariMed's job is formulation, manufacturing consistency, compliance documentation, and brand visibility—costs that scale with production volume, not store count. The six-year EBITDA streak suggests the unit economics hold: gross margin on a wholesale SKU may be lower than retail, but operating expense stays lean because there is no lease, no register, no front-of-house payroll.

The play for a physical-product brand in any regulated or competitive category: build one product that works, document everything, then license or distribute it through other people's channels. A brand selling, say, functional beverage or specialty food can approach regional grocers, convenience chains, or corporate gifting distributors with a turnkey SKU—UPC, nutrition panel, liability coverage, case pricing—and let the retailer carry inventory risk. The brand collects payment on delivery or net-30, books revenue without holding retail overhead, and uses the cash to fund the next production run or the next state.

Start with a single anchor account. If you sell packaged goods, that means one regional chain or one corporate buyer who will commit to a test order of **100 to 500 units**. Deliver on time, in spec, with all paperwork clean. Use that case study—sales velocity, reorder rate, zero compliance issues—to pitch the next buyer. Price the SKU so wholesale margin covers your fully loaded COGS plus **20% to 30%** contribution toward fixed costs. Ship in master cartons that fit standard pallet configs. Provide sell-sheet PDFs with dosage, ingredients, and liability cert. Do not offer consignment. Do not float net-60 terms until the buyer has reordered three times. Keep production runs small enough that you can fulfill from cash flow, and use each cycle's receivables to fund the next batch. The MariMed pattern is proof: you can grow double digits and stay EBITDA-positive if you let someone else pay for the shelf space.

The broader lesson is that distribution-led growth in physical product is a working-capital game, not a marketing game. Every state MariMed enters, every retailer that takes the SKU, is a new channel that converts raw material into cash without adding headcount at the point of sale.

## The takeaway

Wholesale revenue scales when you let retailers carry the real estate cost and you focus on consistent product and clean documentation.

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## Publisher

**Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339.
Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**.

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