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May-2026
Sales
Trend
6-Month
Product Count
SKUs
Avg Price
YoY Sales Change
YoY Price Change
Market Insights Snapshot
In May 2026, Northern Connections concentrated 93.12% of sales in Beverage, while Topical held 6.88%, a mix that leaned further into Beverage despite a 33.21% month-over-month decline and a 52.51% year-over-year decline in that category; by contrast, Topical grew 27.04% month-over-month even as it fell 78.38% year-over-year. Average price decreased 2.58% year-over-year to $10.42, with Beverage pricing at 9.94 and Topical at 30.02, indicating a tilt toward lower-priced volume just as overall brand sales declined 56.55% year-over-year and 60.46% over 24 months. The pattern implies the brand’s category mix is overexposed to a contracting Beverage base with volume-led pricing, while Topical’s small but rising month-over-month contribution offers limited near-term offset.
Positioning-wise, Northern Connections sits at rank 11 in Beverage in Michigan, which, paired with a 33.21% month-over-month Beverage contraction and a 27.04% month-over-month lift in Topical, suggests the brand’s current scale is tied to a weakening core while momentum resides in a niche. With Beverage carrying 93.12% share and Topical only 6.88%, the mix constrains defensive options if Beverage pricing stays 9.94 and category demand remains down 52.51% year-over-year, implying the brand’s near-term leverage comes from selectively expanding Topical while preserving rank 11 visibility in Beverage in Michigan.
Competitive Landscape
Northern Connections sits at #11 in MI Beverage in May 2026, falling 7 spots from #4 year over year and down 4 positions from #7 in February 2026, while its historical peak was #3 in February 2025; in contrast, Mary Jones climbed from #2 to #1 with sales up 87.3% year over year, and Keef Cola slipped from #1 to #2 as its sales declined 9.6% year over year. Further pressure is visible as CQ (Cannabis Quencher) advanced from #8 to #3 with 150.2% YoY growth and Chill Medicated moved from #9 to #4 with 130.3% YoY growth, indicating that Northern Connections’ multi-quarter slide from #7 to #11 coincides with faster-moving rivals and implies share erosion unless trajectory reverses.
Notable Products
The steepest movement in May 2026 was Cherry Limeade Liquid Loud Syrup (200mg) at rank 9 with a -53.0% month-over-month decline, while Mixed Berry Rosin Infused Mix Stix 4-Pack (200mg) at rank 3 fell -22.3% and Northern Connections X Ice Kream Hash Co- Peach Mango Liquid Loud Syrup (200mg) at rank 4 dropped -33.3%. Blue Razz Liquid Loud Syrup (200mg) held rank 1 despite a -7.0% slide, and Sharkleberry THC Mix Stix (200mg) at rank 2 inched up +0.5%, with four Mix Stix SKUs placing in the top ten alongside multiple Liquid Loud Syrup variants. The magnitude of declines concentrated in Liquid Loud Syrup SKUs versus the near-flat Mix Stix leaders indicates a pivot in buyer preference toward stick formats, implying Northern Connections should bias assortment and promotion toward Mix Stix while managing SKU rationalization and pricing on syrups.
Top Selling Cannabis Brands
Data for this report comes from real-time sales reporting by participating cannabis retailers via their point-of-sale systems, which are linked up with Headset’s business intelligence software. Headset’s data is very reliable, as it comes digitally direct from our partner retailers. However, the potential does exist for misreporting in the instance of duplicates, incorrectly classified products, inaccurate entry of products into point-of-sale systems, or even simple human error at the point of purchase. Thus, there is a slight margin of error to consider. Brands listed on this page are ranked in the top twenty within the market and product category by total retail sales volume.
