Prime

Prime is a Louisville, Kentucky-based brand of hydration and energy drinks and drink powders. The drinks are available online on the website and through retailers such as 7-11, Target, Walmart, GNC, and Sam's Club. The company was founded in January 2022 and had a revenue of $250 million its first year.

Prime's popular Ice Pop flavor

The brand includes hydration and energy lines, and both are sweetened with the artificial sweetener sucralose. Powder forms of both lines are also sold. The hydration line comes in colorful bottles and has a coconut water base and includes branch chain amino acids (BCAAs), B vitamins, electrolytes, and antioxidants. Hydration flavors include lemonade, strawberry watermelon, meta moon, ice pop, lemon-lime, grape, and tropical punch.

The energy line is canned and contains electrolytes and includes 200 mg of caffeine per 12 oz can, which is the equivalent of almost six 12 oz cans of Coke or just over two cups of the average cup of coffee. Energy flavors include ice pop, strawberry watermelon, blue raspberry, tropical punch, and orange mango.

The brand releases limited-edition flavors and bottle designs that can be hard to find, such as Glowberry (released summer, 2023). As a result, long lines outside of stores have occurred on release days, and a secondary resale market has developed privately and on sites such as eBay, and with significant markup.

In July 2022, team Arsenal partnered with Prime to be the "Official Hydration Partner of Arsenal." In December 2023, Super Bowl quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed on to be a spokesperson for the Prime hydration line, joining sport celebrity endorsers Erling Haaland (soccer) and MMA fighter Alexander Volkanovski.

Prime is noted on the website and products to have been created by YouTube influencers Olajide “KSI” Olatunji and Logan Paul, who had a combined social media following of 140 million followers at the time of founding. However, there is a parent company behind the brand, Congo Brands, and it is unknown how much the YouTube stars actually had to do with its founding, how much ownership and control they have, and how much of the relationship is just brand representation. Congo Brands is based in Louisville, Kentucky, and has two other similar brands: 3D energy drinks and Alani Nu nutrition supplements, drinks, and snacks. It was started by Max Clemons and Trey Steiger, both in their twenties at the time of founding.

Logan Paul's statement on founding Prime with KSI

In July 2023, Prime energy drink was pulled from shelves in Canada because the 200 mg of caffeine exceeds Health Canada's limit of 180 mg. The energy drinks are banned in UK and Australian schools.

In the UK and in the United States, there are no regulations regarding caffeine content in drinks. However, in July 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pressed the US Food and Drug Administration to investigate the high caffeine content in the Prime energy drinks and the company's practice of marketing the drinks to children. The Democrat from New York stated

“One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, or a toy – it’s a beverage. But buyer and parents beware because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets.

The case is under review by the FDA, as of September 2023.