New Jersey’s legal cannabis market is bloated, messy, and on the verge of collapsing under its own weight. With over 250 licensed dispensaries across the state, competition is fierce, margins are thin, and many operators are struggling to survive — especially in oversaturated areas like Atlantic City, where at least one retail shop recently laid off most of its staff after losing ground to newer entrants.
Industry analysts have pointed to a perfect storm constraining New Jersey’s cannabis market: rising wholesale prices, a limited number of licensed cultivators, regulatory friction, and local opt-outs that have created uneven access across the state. Licensed retailers are grappling with high costs and tight margins — all while the illicit and hemp markets continue to draw away consumers.
And while much of the market spins its wheels, at least two operators are quietly thriving because instead of following the typical playbook, they wrote their own.
The Operators Doing the Opposite
Jeff Miller and Dave Valese, the team behind HoneyProjects, and Dmitri Costello, founder of Coastal Herb Company, couldn’t look more different on paper — but they share a common strategy of rejecting the hype while serving the culture and surrounding community.
Miller, a Peabody Award-winning documentarian, and Valese (known by many as “Big Dave”), a 29-year veteran of East Coast cultivation, built HoneyProjects around a single premise: integrity or nothing.
“We visit every grow before we bring anything onto our shelf,” Miller said. “We’ve decided we’re not going to compromise on quality or values. It’s not that complicated — that’s our strategy.”
Costello, meanwhile, has turned his background as a legacy grower and automotive salesman into a business model that’s flipping the script in New Jersey cannabis retail. In addition to operating dispensaries, he also acquires and repositions them, targeting distressed …
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Author: Gregory Frye / High Times
