Logan Paul's Prime supplier is suing the energy-drink company for $68 million, accusing it of cutting ties as demand cratered (2024)

Refresco accuses Prime of failing to order the required amount during the first year of the contract, incurring a penalty payment. The penalty, which isn't specified in the lawsuit, could be repaid at the end of three years if the company were to order 55.5 million cases in total, the complaint says.

Paul launched Prime with his fellow YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI in January 2022, and the energy drink was a huge success. Thanks to a series of marketing stunts, big-name sponsorships, and a few limited flavors, supply couldn't keep up with demand, and resellers — some in the playground — were reselling the drinks at markups.

In November of last year, Bloomberg reported that the company was profitable and on track to surpass $1.2 billion in revenue for the year.

The original agreement with Refresco, made in April 2023, was based on the high demand Prime was experiencing at the time, the complaint says.

But by 2024, "sales of PRIME beverages were falling well below Defendants' expectations," Refresco's lawyer says in the complaint, adding that while the decline was partly seasonal, it also involved "fading social media buzz" and a series of lawsuits.

Refresco says that in March, Prime representatives didn't show up for a mandatory test run of the new machinery. By April, Prime hadn't placed any beverage orders and told Refresco the contract had been terminated, the complaint says, adding that by that point, not one unit of Prime was bottled from the new production line.

Lawyers for Refresco and multiple representatives for Prime did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider on Monday.

It's not the only lawsuit Prime is facing. Last month, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee sued Prime, accusing it of mismarketing itself as being affiliated with the Games and Team USA — an affiliation reserved for its official sponsor Coca-Cola. The complaint alleges trademark infringement and seeks "millions of dollars" in compensation. Prime has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

In late April, a class-action lawsuit was filed accusing the brand of mislabeling the amount of caffeine in each drink. Prime filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. A similar lawsuit filed in 2023 was voluntarily dismissed.

Even Sen. Chuck Schumer weighed in on the amount of caffeine in the drink, asking the Food and Drug Administration to look into the amount per bottle and how it was marketed. Across Canada, Prime was recalled because of its high caffeine levels.

The company was hit with another class-action lawsuit in 2023, this one alleging the drink contains a level of PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," that is at odds with its marketing as a healthy drink. Lawyers for Prime have filed a motion to dismiss the suit.

"First off, anyone can sue anyone at any time. That does not make the lawsuit true. And in this case, it is not," Paul said in an April 2024 video response to the suit. "There's claims that PFOS, or forever chemicals, come from plastic. So, in this case, they're not talking about the actual drink, the liquid — Prime — they're talking about the bottle that Prime is manufactured in. This ain't a little rinky-dink operation. We use the top bottle manufacturers in the United States."

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Correction: August 12, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the date Business Insider reached out for comment. It was Monday, August 5, not August 6.