By Meaghan Ralston, Maggie Jane | November 9 2026
Data contributor: Michael Colbourne, Neobi
Before you add another SKU to the pitch deck or the purchase order, spend a minute with the menu. This month’s Neobi data gives us a useful look at how products are showing up across Alberta and B.C., where familiar brands are losing listings and how differently the brand race can look from one province to the next.
There is a bigger business story behind the menu, too. Organigram has agreed to acquire Aurora, while producers are pursuing different opportunities outside Canada. Company disclosures help us understand those strategies alongside the store-level data. The practical question is how to use both when planning an assortment, checking supply or pitching a buyer.
Neobi’s latest weekly snapshot covers menus at 564 Alberta stores and 384 B.C. stores during the week of October 26, the latest complete week. The figures were checked on November 9. It is a defined panel, not a census of every store in either province. Here is what stands out and what I would put on the agenda this week.
Beverages already have a place on the menu
Cannabis soft drinks or iced tea were listed at 497 of the 564 Alberta stores in the panel, roughly 88%. In B.C., they appeared at 352 of 384 stores, roughly 92%. Neobi identified 21 products from 11 brands in Alberta and 28 products from 13 brands in B.C.
That is broad coverage for the subcategory within these panels. It gives a beverage brand a better starting point than a generic pitch about why a store should carry drinks. Many of these stores already do. The more useful conversation is about what the proposed product adds to the selection.
For a retailer, start with what is already working in your store. Which products earn a reorder? Which sit? Are customers asking for a format, flavour or price point you do not have? Check the answers against actual sales and inventory before treating a gap on the menu as a buying opportunity.
For a brand, be specific. Show the buyer the pack format, cannabinoid information, price and supply details. Explain where the product fits alongside the existing range. A large number of menu listings cannot tell us whether any particular store needs another SKU, but it can help us ask a better question about the assortment.
Pre-rolls need a clear reason to be there
Pre-rolls account for 33.3% of products on Alberta menus in Neobi’s snapshot, compared with 20.5% for flower. In B.C., pre-rolls account for 29.0% and flower for 22.2%. These figures describe the product mix on menus. They are not the share of sales, dollars or physical shelf space.
For anyone pitching a pre-roll, this is a reason to do the homework. A buyer already managing a substantial pre-roll selection needs to understand the role of the next addition. What price point does it occupy? What pack size or format does it offer? What accurate product information will help the team explain it?
For retailers, use the data as a prompt to review duplication. Two products can look similar on a menu and serve different customers. They can also tie up inventory without adding much choice. Your own sales and margin data will help you tell the difference. Review the assortment in a way that accounts for availability, too. A product that was repeatedly out of stock needs a different conversation from one that was consistently available and rarely sold.
Fewer listings deserve a supply conversation
The changes for San Rafael ’71 and Drift are worth watching. From January to October 2026, the number of Alberta stores listing San Rafael ’71 in Neobi’s data fell from 375 to 174. Drift fell from 258 to 49. In B.C., San Rafael ’71 moved from 200 stores to 54 and Drift from 124 to 42.
Neobi reports that both brands held steady through May before declining from June. Those observations give us a clear distribution question. They do not establish the reason each retailer removed a listing or what happened to consumer demand.
For a store carrying either brand, the useful next step is a direct check on the SKUs you rely on. Confirm current availability, expected replenishment and whether any products are being discontinued. Record what the supplier actually confirms. If a replacement is needed, compare the relevant format, price and product information rather than assuming another familiar name is an equivalent substitute.
For brands watching the same data, fewer competitor listings may be worth investigating. It is not proof of unfilled demand. Talk to buyers about what changed and what customers are asking for before building a launch plan around the decline.
Aurora has a proposed buyer and a changing business mix
Organigram announced on November 3 an agreement to acquire Aurora at C$7.80 per share (in cash, Organigram shares or a mix, subject to proration), representing approximately C$561 million in fully diluted equity value. Aurora’s November 5 disclosure says closing is expected in January 2027, subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals. This remains a proposed transaction, not a completed takeover.
The same disclosure reports C$61.4 million in international medical cannabis revenue for Aurora’s quarter ended September 30, up 44% year over year, driven by patient demand in Germany and Poland. Aurora is winding down its consumer cannabis business. That provides verified corporate context for the shrinking recreational footprint Neobi is observing, without establishing the cause of every San Rafael ’71 or Drift listing change.
Source for the transaction value Organigram and Aurora November 3 announcement
Source for the transaction and business mix Aurora November 5 disclosure
For retailers, an acquisition announcement is a reason to ask specific operational questions. Who is your contact through the transition? Which SKUs remain available? Have discontinuations or replenishment changes been confirmed? Keep the answers separate from assumptions about what the buyer might do after closing.
The brand race changes when the province changes
Neobi also supplied a separate view based on retail sales reported to its conformance panel. In Ontario, Spinach reached 9.2% of reported branded sales in September 2026, ahead of Back Forty at 8.9%. Back Forty had led in July and August.
In Alberta, Back Forty held 5.6% and Spinach 5.3% in September. Neobi says that order held across the three months. The September gap in each province was 0.3 percentage points, with a different brand ahead in each.
Keep the denominator attached to those numbers: reported branded sales in Neobi’s panel. They should not be presented as total provincial market share or a national ranking. The provincial difference is still useful. It is a reminder to bring local evidence to a buyer conversation and to check whether a national brand story holds up in the market you are actually working in.
International growth looks different from company to company
Cronos, the company behind Spinach, reported record German net revenue in its November 5 third-quarter results. Its Israeli business grew net revenue 33% year over year, or 19% on a constant-currency basis, with PEACE NATURALS active in that medical market. Cronos also completed its CanAdelaar acquisition on October 15, adding a business in the Netherlands’ adult-use cannabis pilot program.
Those are concrete international developments. They do not mean the Spinach products on an Alberta menu have launched in all of those markets. The parent company, local brand and route to market matter.
Source for Cronos international results and CanAdelaar closing
Auxly, the company behind Back Forty, describes a more measured approach. In its August 13 second-quarter update, it said it was evaluating export opportunities and investing in its Leamington facility to prepare for long-term international growth, while protecting its Canadian focus. That is evidence of preparation and intent, not proof of a broad Back Forty launch overseas.
Source for Auxly export strategy and Canadian focus
Source for Back Forty as an Auxly brand
There are brand-level moves to watch as well. Rubicon Organics’ 1964 Supply Co entered the U.K. market in April 2026 with Blue Dream and Stinky Pinky, later adding Apples and Bananas. Rubicon subsequently announced full-spectrum vapes through 4C LABS. That gives us a specific example of a Canadian brand extending into an overseas medical channel, with product formats and partners identified.
Source for the 1964 Supply Co U.K. expansion
Calgary-based Decibel reported second-quarter international sales of C$10.6 million, up 72% year over year, alongside 6% domestic growth. Overseas growth and Canadian growth can happen together. Its October 8 announcement with Hilltop Leaf outlined a planned fourth-quarter U.K. medical-market launch of General Admission and Standard Issue. Keep that planned launch distinct from confirmed availability.
Source for Decibel second quarter sales
Source for Decibel planned U.K. brand launch
For Western retailers and brands, these different strategies make the supply conversation more important. Ask whether an announced international initiative changes domestic allocation, lead times or support for your specific products. Export growth alone does not establish a Canadian shortage. A company’s global revenue growth also tells us something different from demand for one brand in one store.
The budget proposal changes stamp administration
There is a separate policy development to track alongside the shelf data. Budget 2026 proposes reducing cannabis excise stamp types from 13 to six, with a common stamp proposed to become available on January 1, 2028. Less paperwork could help, but it is not the excise tax relief our industry has been asking for. The proposal addresses stamp administration, not an excise tax-rate cut.
The proposed initial common-stamp jurisdictions are B.C., Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nunavut are invited to opt in by January 31, 2027.
For Western operators, the distinction matters. B.C. is included in the initial proposal while Alberta and Saskatchewan have an opt-in decision ahead. Producers should watch the final rules and participating jurisdictions before changing packaging or inventory plans. Destination-based reporting and remittance would remain. A common stamp would not, by itself, create unrestricted interprovincial shipping.
The proposed transition would allow existing provincial and territorial stamps to be used on products entering common-stamp jurisdictions through June 30, 2029, with wholesalers and retailers able to sell previously stamped inventory until December 31, 2029. Those dates belong in planning discussions as proposed dates, not as permission to change today’s process. Any savings would depend on the final implementation and the operator’s own business. There is no basis here for putting a dollar figure on them.
Source for the Budget 2026 stamp proposal
Bring the data back to the store
This week, I would start with one category and one practical question. For beverages, ask what the current selection is missing. For pre-rolls, ask what earns each SKU its place. For a brand losing listings, ask what supply information the store needs now.
Then put the menu data beside your own numbers. Check sales, margin, availability and customer questions. A good industry update should help you decide what to investigate, what to ask and what to do next. These figures give us plenty to work with, as long as we keep the limits of the data attached.
Shelf and brand-panel data supplied by Neobi Technology. Menu figures are for the week of October 26, 2026, checked November 9, 2026. Corporate context comes from the linked Aurora, Cronos, Auxly, Rubicon Organics and Decibel disclosures and is separate from Neobi’s panel. Menu data reflects listed products rather than sales or guaranteed live inventory. Reported-sales figures reflect participating retailers rather than the entire market.