A shopkeeper has defended selling an energy drink created by two Youtubers for up to £15 a BOTTLE after supermarkets began selling out.
Bottles of Prime Hydration, launched by influencers KSI and Logan Paul, have been flying off the shelves at Asda stores across the country.
Teenagers have been snapping them up within minutes of being restocked and have even been getting up at 5am to queue outside supermarkets.
Now, one corner shop in Worcester is capitalising upon the social media craze by flogging bottles for £8 each - instead of the recommended retail price of £2.
And customers have even been paying £15 just for one bottle while one punter purchased two crates of the drink for £80. Schoolchildren have been queuing outside Nisa Local, in Brickfields, in the hopes of getting their hands on the popular beverage.
Shopkeeper Ameer Khan, 21, says he is seeing dozens of the bottles flying off the shelves within minutes of them being restocked.
He has defended its decision to sell the drink for £8 and claims no customers have complained about the hefty price tag.
Mr Khan said: “Nobody has complained about the price, one person asked me to put one behind the counter and paid £15 for it.
“One person bought two crates for £80.
“People leave their phone numbers with me so I can let them know we have some in stock.
“This morning, I had two crates delivered and in less than four hours we’ve sold 22 bottles for £8.
“My boss came in with a third crate from another one of his stores otherwise we would’ve sold out before midday.
“Nobody has complained about the price, kids are mad for it.”
Customers are only allowed to buy two drinks per visit due to its popularity.
They have even had to remove it from the fridges as children block the aisles gathering around to grab a bottle.
Mr Khan added: “Someone came in and bought 24 bottles when we didn’t have a limit on them.
“We don’t put our Prime out anymore, we keep it behind the counter.
“It started off in the fridge but the kids started crowding it in the store.
“I just put one of each flavour up for show.
“Customers kept asking us if we sell Prime and showing us pictures on their phones and I didn’t know what it was to begin with.
“But now we get a delivery every Friday. It doesn’t come at a set time, so some people come every 10 minutes to ask if it’s here yet.
“People go crazy for it and come after school.
“I get why all the kids want it because someone famous has made it.”
“It comes in on Friday and by Monday I have none at all, no matter how big the order is.
“Some even send their dads in. One dad comes in every hour asking if it’s here.”
Mr Khan, who has worked at the store for three years, said: “I’ve never seen anything like this.
“It has never been like this.
“It’s never got this crazy over a drink.
“We can have a queue on 10 to 15 customers outside the shop.
“The blue raspberry is the most popular, but it’s a preference at the end of the day.”
Demand for the drink is being fuelled by the influencers turned boxing rivals popularity who share over 50 million subscribers between them.
The pair say they intend to ‘rival some of the biggest companies on Earth’ such as Pepsi, Coke, Gatorade, and Powerade.
KSI spoke about the celebrity-endorsed drink in an episode of The Fellas podcast where he reacted to the popularity of the energy drink and explained why it is so hard to find.
The 29-year-old said: “It’s always sold out, man. Honestly, people are selling it on the black market.
“The only place you’re meant to get Prime is Asda and Arsenal stadium. But people are getting it at petrol stations.
“Asda employees aren’t even putting it on the shelves anymore.
“They’re shipping it out lowkey. They’re like ‘what’s the point, I put it on the shelf, and it’s gone instantly.”
