Prime, Energy Drink | Prime created wild conditions – the price drop is shocking

Internet phenomena Logan Paul and KSI have had massive success with the drink Prime Hydration.

The drink took Norway by storm when it was launched in a Norwegian version in Norwegian grocery chains last November.

Before that time, newsagents, online shops and candy shops had imported it directly from outlets in the USA and the UK and sold it at a high price in this country.

However, the Norwegian version of Prime Hydration has been in a completely different price range and has been between NOK 30 and 40. This is no longer the case.

Groceries in Oslo have dropped their prices violently recently.

Nettavisen’s journalists have this week visited several stores in central Oslo, where you can get a bottle of Prime for a lick and nothing.

At Extra in Borggata on Oslo’s eastern edge, you can secure the popular drink for just five kroner. If you want it even a little cheaper, the shop sells twelve pieces for NOK 50. This gives a piece price of NOK 4.16.

At Rema 1000’s store in Torggata in central Oslo, there are several pallets of the drink outside the premises. The price here is NOK 4.90.

– Declaration of bankruptcy

Trond Blindheim, who teaches marketing communication and consumer behavior at Kristiania University College, believes that things indicate that the stores want more people to try the energy drink, and thus make it more widespread and established among the Norwegian people.

– There is a fierce competition, and it is full of various energy drinks. Many students sit in the auditoriums with energy drinks instead of water on their desks. So there is strong competition on the market, says Blindheim to Nettavisen.

He points out that it is common for new ventures to try similar strategies. He also uses the take three, pay for two strategy as an example.

– But there is nothing that kills a bad product as quickly as good marketing, says the reputation expert.

– What do you put in it?

– If it is marketed very strongly and many try at once, and the product is not as expected. Then they have spent a lot of money on nothing.

– What does the price drop say about the success?

– It does not seem that Prime is very successful in Norway. It is a declaration of bankruptcy to sell it so cheaply, and it probably costs more to distribute. It may also happen that many people haven’t had the chance to try it yet, and then sales can go up as more people get to test the drink cheaply.

This is how the store chains respond

Nettavisen has asked both Rema 1000 and Extra what is the reason why the popular drink is now being sold cheaply.

Arild Blindheim, who is category and purchasing director at Rema 1000, tells Nettavisen that sales were large at the start, but that it has gradually leveled off somewhat.

– Today it is not priced abnormally low, but there may be local offers where some shops reduce the price of the goods if, for example, they are about to expire, says the Rema 1000 director.

He explains that Prime is a so-called “non-compulsory” product, which in practice means that it is up to each individual store whether they want it on their shelves or not.

– Is the plan for Rema 1000 to continue selling Prime?

– We make ongoing assessments of which products we want in our range.

Coop admits that interest in the product is not as great as it was in 2023.

– The “hype” in the market last summer has calmed down and the demand for and willingness to pay for Prime is less than what we saw last year. Prime is still part of the range in several of our chains. We don’t have a central campaign on Prime, so this is a matter of local activities.

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It cost just under NOK 200

Prime should have cost NOK 39.90, plus deposit, when the Norwegian version hit the store shelves in November. In any case, it was significantly cheaper than when the drink first came to Norway.

Certain kiosks and online stores imported Prime from abroad. Then a bottle cost between NOK 139 and 190, VG reported last year.

The aforementioned Norwegian variant is a result of the original version becoming illegal in Norwegian stores. The reason was that Prime Hydration contained too much vitamin A.

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