• The PRIME Hydration drink is now being sold in South Africa for as low as R5 ($0.27) in some stores.
• This as retailers look to rid themselves of excess stock as the demand for the once-popular sports drink has all but fizzled out.
• Despite enormous worldwide sales, PRIME is now facing a lawsuit that alleges the drink contains “forever chemicals.”

The local decline of the incredibly viral hydration drink Prime, promoted to oblivion by internet personalities like Logan Paul and KSI, has been making rounds on social media, but on Monday we may have just found the cheapest Prime in Gauteng.

At Checkers Hyper Roodepoort in Johannesburg they are selling Prime of at least two flavours for R5 a bottle, or $0.27. This makes the (imported from the US) Prime likely, one of, if not the cheapest soft -drink on South African shelves.

The insanity around Prime hit South Africa in April 2023, where some retailers were importing the drink and selling it for up to R500 per bottle, causing a frenzy on social media. Checkers was the first mainstream retailer to officially partner with the drink to bring PRIME to South Africa, selling the drink for R39.99 per bottle.

For the next year, the story of PRIME in South Africa was one of rocketing high sales and now a cratering low price.

PRIME was so initially successful for Checkers that customers rushing to scoop up the drink was causing connectivity problems for the grocer’s Sixty60 delivery app.

PRIME even landed in hot water with the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB), with its General Secretary telling Hypertext that it was “changing the behaviour of students” and making learners at schools hyperactive. This is despite the drink not containing any sugar.

“The unprecedented Sixty60 app usage and demand for PRIME Hydration intermittently impacted ordering on the app causing it to be less efficient than what customers have become accustomed to,” Checkers-owner Shoprite told Hypertext at the time.

So successful was the hydration drink that Checkers was still importing new flavours of PRIME up until September last year, when the store introduced Strawberry Watermelon PRIME at its branches. At that time, PRIME was still being sold at the price of R39.99 a bottle in South Africa

Now almost a year later, Checkers stores around the country are desperately trying to rid themselves of excess stock as the craze and hype around the drink has all but fizzled out. Today the drink is not even listed on the same Sixty60 app that experienced uptime issues because of the enormous interest the drink was getting.

Internationally, the sports drink is seeing new lawsuits that allege they contain “forever chemicals” (chemicals that accumulate in the body over time but never break down) but despite this, Paul and KSI can still celebrate over $1.2 billion in worldwide sales.

Don’t feel like ever buying PRIME? We don’t blame you. So we tasted all the flavours and compared them to local favourites just for you.