Navigating Missouri's Med-to-Rec Transition with Headset Bridge

Missouri cannabis sales have been on fire. Less than six months into the adult-use market, the state had already surpassed Colorado in monthly sales and continues to move at an impressive pace. But with such rapid growth comes the challenge of matching production capacity to consumer demand.

Taylor Bowen, Eastern Account Manager for Missouri-based operator Teal Cannabis Co., knows these challenges firsthand. Missouri's med-to-rec transition "has now made it more difficult to spread our products across our accounts," she notes. But Teal — named after the fast and agile green-winged teal ducks that migrate through Missouri each year — has been able to adapt to these changes and "pivot wherever the market goes."

A Premium Brand in a Fast-Moving Market

Teal Cannabis Co. started out of St. Peters, Missouri, with a conservation-minded ethos baked into its identity — the company maintains a conservation easement on their manufacturing property, preserving habitat for the migratory birds that inspired their name. "We're agile, like the duck," explains the Teal team. "We're able to move where the market goes."

Teal sports a diverse line of premium products ranging from edibles to concentrates, selling into 200+ retailers across the "Show-Me" state. The brand is best known for its popular 500mg live resin disposables and its whole-nug pre-rolls — no shake, no trim, light grind, triple sift, no stems — available in a 2-pack and 1-gram format at an accessible price point.

Taylor manages nearly half of Teal's retail accounts — 82 companies and over 100 individual stores. Until recently, she communicated with buyers without a shared medium to understand Teal's sell-through performance. Information sharing was limited to phone calls and emails, and Taylor notes that "most accounts would take several days to respond" to her inquiries.

This isn't surprising, especially after Missouri opened its doors to recreational consumers back in February 2023. Retail stores were experiencing roughly 3x more foot traffic, and buyers who interface with Taylor were getting pulled in other directions to manage that influx. But lags in communication can delay product shipments — and for consumers driving across the state to buy one of Teal's popular live resin disposables, that lag can translate to an unhappy customer and ultimately, lost revenue for both retailer and brand.

Enter Headset Bridge

In May, Teal brought on Headset Bridge to address this pain point. Bridge, modeled after a common inventory management practice known as VMI (vendor-managed inventory), gives operators direct visibility into their products' retail performance.

With Bridge, Taylor can now monitor inventory levels and product velocity at participating stores, enabling her to anticipate the needs of her accounts without time-intensive back-and-forth communication.

"Now, I no longer have to spend half my morning bugging people," Taylor says.

With Bridge, Taylor can mock up data-driven purchase orders and ask for a quick "thumbs up" from her accounts before sending them product. The response from buyers has been overwhelmingly positive. One purchaser from Suede Cannabis told Taylor: "How did you know we needed these?"

Another buyer told Taylor's team to "just send over the order, and we'll give a thumbs up" — a level of trust built on Bridge's transparent, data-driven approach. As Taylor puts it: "I'm not only building relationships — I'm literally a resource for them. If there's any way we can make the purchaser's job easier, I want to do that."

Measurable Impact

The results have been immediate and significant. Taylor says that Bridge saves her "at least four days" per major account. Before Bridge, she'd wait days for buyers to respond with their needs. "If I were to wait for them to respond with what they need, everything would likely be on backorder."

And with more timely and consistent orders, Taylor exceeded her weekly revenue goal by $150,000+ from just one of her accounts — Suede Cannabis — by proactively fulfilling orders before stock ran out.

Taylor also highlights how Bridge has transformed her understanding of the data behind her business: "I didn't understand analytics until I got onto Headset. I was nervous about hitting up the chat because I like face-to-face communication — but they were so incredibly detailed, communicative, and fast."

She also appreciates the platform's approach to data privacy: "I don't know why people have a fuss about data privacy, because I can only see my stuff."

Retail Partners See the Value Too

The feedback from Teal's retail partners has been overwhelmingly positive. Director of Retail Ops Jack Haddox at local retailer SWADE says: "The additional support has allowed us to make quick inventory decisions and keep SWADE a leader in the MO cannabis market."

Taylor emphasizes that Bridge isn't just a win for Teal — it's a win for everyone in the supply chain. "As soon as rec hit, accounts only wanted to deal with one AM at a time. Taylor, this makes my life so much easier," one buyer from Suede told her.

Vital for Growth

For Teal Cannabis, Bridge isn't just a nice-to-have — it's foundational to their growth strategy. Taylor says plainly: "It's vital for our expansion. It's vital to keeping our brand alive in these stores."

Given the arc of Missouri's current trajectory, demand will likely stabilize but continue unabated. Producers like Teal Cannabis Co. need the relevant insights to understand how they can best support their retail partners during these early stages of recreational sales and beyond.

Headset Bridge by the Numbers

At the time of this story, Headset Bridge connects 95 retailers and 20 brands across Missouri — and growing.

To learn more about Bridge and how it can help you better navigate your home cannabis market, reach out to our team today.