The energy drink that went so viral supermarkets had to put security tags on them is now available in Aldi – and there have been mad scenes in shops across the UK.
Prime, which was created by YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul, had shoppers queueing up outside shops from the crack of dawn when it launched in October.
The energy drink was initially only sold in Asda, where demand was so high the supermarket giant had to introduce a three-bottle limit on all purchases.
It also had to start putting security tags on them to prevent anyone stealing bottles of Prime, which were selling on eBay for hundreds of pounds.
There have been similar scenes outside Aldi stores today, with shoppers seen queueing outside from 5am to buy the £1.99 drink.
One person joked that they ‘drop kicked a granny and threw a child out of the window’ to buy a bottle, saying their local store sold out in just 20 minutes.
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Others have reported their local branch of Aldi selling out of Prime within just three minutes.
Aldi shared the news yesterday, tweeting: “THIS IS NOT A DRILL. @PrimeHydrate will be in stores from tomorrow! You’ll be able to grab one of each flavour while stocks last! @KSI meet you there?”
KSI – a YouTube star turned boxer and rapper – responded: “Na I can’t, I’m training but glad there’s other options besides just Asda now.”
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THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨 @PrimeHydrate will be in stores from tomorrow! You'll be able to grab one of each flavour while stocks last! @KSI meet you there? pic.twitter.com/rRZWvTVlVO
Prime is available in Aldi in three different flavours – Blue Raspberry, Lemon and Lime and Ice Pop.
But once again, there are rules on how much you can actually buy.
Aldi is limiting shoppers to one of every flavour of Prime from today, which it’s rolling out as part of its Specialbuy offers.
Aldi said: “The viral hydration drink created by two popular YouTube stars, KSI and Logan Paul, is available to buy for just £1.99 in Aldi stores nationwide on 29th December.
“The drink will be a Specialbuy – and as with all Specialbuys, once they’re gone, they’re gone!
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“The supermarket is expecting high demand so a purchase limit of one of each variant per customer has been set to ensure as many people as possible get the opportunity to buy the product.”
One shopper said their local Aldi ran out of Prime within four minutes, comparing it to the golden tickets in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Managed to get the last two bottles of Prime this morning at 8.04am in #aldi The store had only been open 4 minutes and it had all gone! Reminded me of the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the rush for the golden ticket 😂 @PrimeHydration@AldiUKpic.twitter.com/EgFqdYO03d
The Prime Tracker Twitter account, which helps people track down the drinks, has been sharing videos and photos from around the country.
It’s shown checkouts full of the colourful bottles, queues winding across car parks, and what appears to be videos of full-grown adults snatching drinks off children.
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Daisy Jackson -
29th December 2022 
