🗝 THE VALUE OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS IN BUSINESSS 🗝
Not our usual post, but Teddie Levenfiche, cofounder of PerfectTed, caught our attention with his post and it made us think about the importance of building a strong, trusting relationship between manufacturers and customers — something we really pride ourselves in cultivating with our customers from day one.
💲 For those unaware, Prime is drink and cultural phenomenon co-founded by YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI, launched in January 2022. Its founders' large online followings and effective social media marketing kept Prime in the spotlight. Initial launches often sold out quickly, creating a sense of scarcity that drove demand, leading to inflated resale prices. The most expensive bottle of Prime reportedly sold for around £100,000 at a December 2022 charity auction organized by Arsenal FC to benefit The Arsenal Foundation. This exceptional price reflects the extraordinary hype surrounding Prime, especially in the UK, where it frequently sold out. Resellers on platforms like eBay have sold bottles for hundreds of dollars, and supermarkets limited purchases per customer.
😥 However, Prime's popularity has waned due to the fading novelty that initially drove its hype and as the product became more widely available, the urgency and exclusivity that fueled its demand diminished. With the dropping in sales, there are now significant challenges for its manufacturers Refresco Beverages. Refresco claims Prime and Congo Brands breached their April 2023 contract by failing to purchase a minimum volume of at least 18.5 million cases per year. Refresco argues it invested considerable time and money retrofitting its equipment for Prime’s unique bottle shape. While Paul claimed $250 million in retail sales and $110 million gross in the first year, Prime allegedly refused to test the new equipment in March 2024 and declined to start commercial production the following month.
💡 Our take away - It’s really important to us that both parties are getting what they need from the relationship. We dedicate a lot of time to understanding our clients, testing products, and fine-tuning recipes while maintaining an open dialogue about costs. We believe transparency is key from the start. Although we are not on the same level as Prime, this post has reminded us how grateful we are for our wonderful customers and how proud we are of our processes that have allowed trust to develop over time. We hope this means we will avoid finding ourselves in a situation like Refresco Beverages.
