Prime Hydration range

Source: Alamy

Viral soft drinks brand Prime looks set to expand into sports nutrition.

The c-store sensation has applied to register its logo with the IPO under class five, covering nutritional supplements, protein supplement shakes and protein supplements formed and packaged as bars.

While Prime – co-founded by YouTuber and pro wrestler Logan Paul – declined to comment, a move into protein products would be “a natural progression for the brand”, said One Stop franchise partner Aman Uppal.

“There’s a lot of potential there because they have uncovered a new market in terms of teenagers and adults who are not really into those typical, well-established sports nutrition brands.”

Nurture Brands MD Adam Draper agreed an expansion beyond the core Prime drinks, which contain no protein, would “do really well” given founders Paul and rapper/boxer KSI “have millions of devoted followers on Instagram and YouTube, and their fans will buy whatever they are selling. They will certainly steal market share for a period.”

However, long-term success would “come down to the value they offer, which is down to the quality of their product and its repeat rate”, Draper added.

Carey McEvoy, director & co-founder of insights agency TRKR, cast further doubt on the move. While data on Prime was scarce, “anecdotally, it seems like it is a huge hit with 11-year-olds, with their parents being the purchaser”, he said

By expanding into sports nutrition, Prime would be targeting “over-16s, who buy these types of product to bulk up”, he added. “Will they want to buy a kiddies’ fad?”

It comes after Sainsbury’s last week added the wildly popular Prime on a ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone’ basis, limiting sales to three bottles per customer.

By the time of writing, all variants were already out of stock in the retailer.