Melissa Vonder Haar has been a prominent voice in emerging product categories within mainstream retail for over 15 years, from the early days of vaping to the evolving cannabis landscape. She began covering the space in 2012 as CSP’s Senior Tobacco Editor and now serves as Managing Director of the newly launched TradeWorks from iSEE Store Innovations, where she has played a key role in shaping the company’s merchandising services for startups and emerging categories—particularly within hemp-derived THC.

Melissa continues to deepen her expertise in disruptive retail trends as a freelance journalist and industry speaker for CSP, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), and others. She has authored numerous cannabis-focused cover stories, developed and hosted educational forums—including CSP’s CBD and the Future of Cannabis event—and has spoken at leading conferences such as the NACS Future of Cannabis in Retail pop-up and CannaDataCon. She currently serves on the NACS Convention Content Committee and the NACS Foundation Advisory Committee, and most recently was appointed Chair of CSP’s C-Store Cannabis Board.