Snack options on the rise for pot users with the munchies

With cannabis legalization weeks away in Canada, it's not just marijuana producers hoping to cash in. Snack-food companies are also looking for ways to sell products to cannabis users.

Earlier this year, Hershey Canada put out a new version of the Oh Henry! and called it the 4:25. The limited-edition bar was launched at a Toronto location dressed up to emulate a pot dispensary.

According to the bright green package, the peanut-nougat (and entirely marijuana-free) bar is "specifically formulated to satisfy the intense hunger craving that occurs five minutes after 4:20."

It is a blatant attempt to capitalize on one of the side effects of marijuana consumption — the munchies.

Alternatives to "the Big M"

Earlier this year — on April 20, the international counterculture holiday for cannabis enthusiasts — Foodora food delivery service catered to pot users and their inevitable junk food cravings.

"We were delivering things like brioche-style buns with poutine on top, with gravy and mac and cheese sprinkled on it, for $4.20. And it came with things like sunglasses and mints in a little hot box kit," said Matt Rice, head of marketing at Foodora.

In Vancouver, 4:20 Grasshopper Gourmet sells "healthier snacks for the munchies" (containing no cannabis) with marijuana-themed marketing.

"The whole concept was to try and give people a better alternative when they get the munchies when they participate in any extracurricular activities," said co-founder Kenny Vannucci. "We know you're gonna get the munchies. Right? So instead of running to the Big M, let's see if we can design something that's a little better for you when you get those urges."

Mixed reactions from consumers

Vannucci says while customers are generally responding well to the products, there are two sides to the issue.

"If I go to our Instagram or Facebook page, we've got a tonne of people who like our product. They think it's cool; they think it's fun," said Vannuci. "But we also have a multitude of people, because we have the product in traditional retail and we have had people complain. They don't think it's proper. They don't think we should be marketing this type of product."

It's entirely possible, he says, that marijuana tie-in marketing might, one day, be out of bounds, in the same way that cigarette companies aren't allowed to market anything that appears to promote cigarette smoking.

For now, though, Vannuci says food companies are busy taking chances in a new marketing space.

"There is no defined market. Remember, this is an empty space. So the only way to go into an empty space is you've got to use the humour. You've got to make it a little edgier."