California’s cannabis market is massive, messy, and hyper-competitive. Instead of a single “official” ranking, what you really see is a constellation of brands that dominate in different lanes: retail footprint, hype, craft flower, edibles, and concentrates.
Below is a look at ten standout California cannabis companies, noting whether they’re local-only or effectively a multi-state operator (MSO/global brand) and highlighting notable 2024 accolades or milestones where available.
1. STIIIZY – Lifestyle Powerhouse & Retail Giant (MSO)
Type: California-born brand with multi-state operations (effectively an MSO)
Lane: Vapes, flower, pods, large retail footprint
STIIIZY went from a pod-based vape upstart to one of California’s biggest cannabis retailers, with reporting in 2025 noting it had grown to dozens of branded stores (around 37 locations) and that its vaporizers were among the best-selling in the state, even being described as “America’s top cannabis brand.” MORE ABOUT: SFGATE
Outside California, STIIIZY’s products and branding show up in other legal markets, including Nevada, where the company placed in concentrate and brand categories at the 2024 Nevada Cannabis Awards. MORE HERE: nevadacannabisawardsmusicfestival.com
Why it matters: STIIIZY is a classic California-to-multi-state success story: dominant in its home market, expanding across state lines, and increasingly treated as a national lifestyle brand rather than just a local label.
2. Cookies – Global Brand With California Roots (MSO/Global)
Type: Global cannabis brand / MSO, headquartered in San Francisco
Lane: Flower genetics, branded retail, lifestyle
Cookies describes itself as “the most globally recognized cannabis company,” founded in San Francisco by rapper Berner and breeder Jai, with over 70 proprietary cultivars and more than 2,000 products. SITE: cookies.co
By 2024, Cookies was already licensed across multiple U.S. states and international markets. A December 2024 partnership with Klutch Cannabis brought the brand into Ohio’s adult-use market, underlining its multi-state status and showing how its California genetics continue to travel. READ MORE: Cannabis Business Times
2024 highlight: Continued expansion of Cookies-branded products into new states; many of the major headlines for Cookies in 2024–25 are around big licensing deals and high-profile legal disputes, rather than product competitions, but its cultural and commercial impact remains huge. READ MORE: SFGATE
3. Glass House Brands / Glass House Farms – Greenhouse Scale & Awards (Local CA-Focused)
Type: Vertically integrated, California-focused company
Lane: Mixed-light greenhouse flower, brands, retail
Glass House Farms is one of California’s largest legal cultivators, and 2024 was a banner awards year. At the California State Fair Cannabis Awards 2024, its strain Lilac Diesel not only won the Golden Bear (Best of California) in the Mixed Light Flower category, but also collected multiple gold medals for terpene and total terpene categories.
A company press release in August 2024 highlighted that this translated into a “Best Cannabis in California” title from the State Fair competition, underscoring the farm’s reputation for quality at a very large scale. MORE ABOUT: Glass House Brands
Local vs MSO: Glass House is big, but its core licensed plant-touching operations are California-based, making it a large in-state operator rather than a classic MSO.
4. Pure Beauty – Boutique Design Meets Award-Winning Indoor (Local CA Brand)
Type: California boutique brand
Lane: Design-driven indoor flower, alternative cannabinoid products
Pure Beauty has long been a “cool kids” brand, but 2024 added serious hardware. At the California State Fair Cannabis Awards 2024, its cultivar New Jack City won the Golden Bear for Indoor Flower—essentially “Best Indoor Flower in California” for the year. SITE: CA State Fair Cannabis Awards
That win, judged on lab results and blind evaluation, cemented Pure Beauty’s status not just as a design darling but as an elite indoor producer in a state where the bar for indoor is extremely high.
5. Emerald Spirit Botanicals – Sungrown Craft With Big 2024 Sweep (Local CA Farm)
Type: Regenerative, family-run California farm
Lane: Sungrown, THCV-rich and alternative cannabinoid genetics
Emerald Spirit Botanicals is a craft farm that proves “small” can still dominate awards. Their signature cultivar Pink Boost Goddess took the Golden Bear for Sungrown Flower at the 2024 California State Fair and swept several terpene-focused gold medals, including Most Unique Flower, Highest Total Terpenes, and Highest Ocimene.
The farm’s awards page underscores that it is an award-winning California cannabis farm with multiple State Fair medals and prior Emerald Cup recognition, positioning it as a leader in sungrown, eco-focused cultivation. SITE: emeraldspiritbotanicals.com
6. Farmer and the Felon – Story-Driven Brand With Terpene Wins (Local CA Brand, Glass House-Linked)
Type: California brand (associated with Glass House)
Lane: Branded flower with social-justice storytelling
Farmer and the Felon combines strong genetics with a prison-reform narrative—and judges took notice in 2024. At the State Fair Cannabis Awards, the brand earned Gold and Silver medals in terpene categories, including Gold for Jet Fuel OG (Myrcene) and Silver for Sherb (Myrcene). MORE HERE: CA State Fair Cannabis Awards
These wins show the brand can stand alongside boutique craft names on quality, while its packaging and mission help it play strongly on crowded retail shelves.
7. Kiva Confections – Edibles Leader & Competition Mainstay (MSO Brand)
Type: California-founded, multi-state edibles brand (MSO-style)
Lane: Gummies, chocolates, Camino line
Kiva Confections is one of the best-known cannabis edibles companies in North America, and by early 2024 it was expanding its Camino brand into 16 new markets, including hemp-derived delta-9 products for states where traditional THC edibles aren’t yet sold in dispensaries. MORE ABOUT: Greenway Magazine
In California, Kiva’s Dark Chocolate product was a top-finishing edible at the 2024 California Cannabis Awards Music Festival, taking second place in the “Edible Product” category behind only Mighty Mango by HaHa. MORE HERE: californiacannabisawardsmusicfestival.com
Kiva’s products are manufactured in California but the brand operates via licensing and partnerships in numerous U.S. markets, making it firmly a multi-state powerhouse. SITE: Ayr Wellness Inc.
8. Raw Garden – Concentrate Specialist and Single-Source Pioneer (Local CA Brand With Wider Reach)
Type: California-based brand (cultivation and extraction in Santa Barbara County)
Lane: Live resin, sauce, vapes, now gummies
Raw Garden has built its reputation on single-source, farm-to-cart concentrates, with cultivation and extraction centered in Santa Barbara County. A major 2025 industry blog on California brands frames Raw Garden as a leader in cannabis extraction, highlighting its live resins, sauces, and vape cartridges as core products and noting that all material comes from its own farm. MORE HERE: Vallejo Relief Center
The same coverage points out that Raw Garden expanded into THC-infused gummies in 2023, made from its own live oil, and has continued to build momentum through 2024 on the strength of quality and consistency.
While largely California-centric on the plant-touching side, Raw Garden’s products have such reach in-state that many retailers and consumers treat it as a default top-shelf concentrate brand.
9. Fig Farms – Award-Winning Indoor Craft With Multi-State Presence (CA-Born, Now Multi-State)
Type: California-born craft cultivator, now in multiple states
Lane: High-end indoor flower
Fig Farms has been on a tear since its Blue Face strain won 1st Place Indoor Flower and Best in Show at the Emerald Cup 2023, a win widely discussed into 2024. SEE RESULTS HERE: cannabiscupwinners.com
By mid-2024, the company’s own news page described Fig Farms as an “owner-farmed cultivator and breeder of some of the most sought-after cannabis”, and noted that the brand was operating in California, Illinois, and beyond—an indication that it has moved from purely local to a multi-state craft player. MORE ABOUT: figfarms.com
Even when not taking home a new 2024 trophy, Fig Farms’ constant presence in “best weed” roundups and product drops keeps it firmly on any top-ten California list.
10. Ember Valley – Genetics-Obsessed Brand With 2024 State Fair Medal (Local CA Brand)
Type: California cultivation and brand
Lane: Indoor flower, OG-forward strains, R&D on genetics
Ember Valley leans into genetics and phenotype hunting. A feature from the company emphasizes its focus on finding unique cannabis genetics and describes research and development as central to its cultivation model. MORE HERE: Ember Valley
In 2024, one of its house strains, Meow OG, scored a 2nd-place medal for “Caryophyllene” at the California State Fair Cannabis Awards, showing that its terpene-rich phenos can hang with the state’s best.
Ember Valley might not have the mainstream recognition of Cookies or STIIIZY, but among connoisseurs and Northern California shops it’s widely seen as a serious flower brand with credibility in competitions.