An independent bakery operating out of their home kitchen has stocked up on crates of Prime from Costco in a bid to sell more brownies, while offering customers an ‘incredibly low price’ on the must-have viral drink.
Dad John Lashley, 41, and his teenage son, Leo, run the American-inspired Brooklyn Brownie Co, and are hoping the trending beverage will help their small business gain more visibility and reach new customers.
The entrepreneurs were previously giving away bottles of the drink, which have gained popularity with youngsters due to its association with YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul. Those who spent £40 on Hatch or Uber would get a free bottle with their order.
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But now, anyone who heads down to their shop and places an order can get their hands on a bottle of Prime for a ‘reasonable price’ - one one condition. The rule is that you have to buy at least one item from the Brooklyn Brownie Co menu.
Prime is an energy drink that has become the subject of the latest teen craze. It’s recently been stocked at Asda, Aldi, Costco and Spar, but has proven extremely difficult to lay hands on, since it’s been so in demand.
John managed to stock up at Costco in Milton Keynes, despite it selling out in minutes. Posting a video to his 26,100 Instagram followers, he said: “We woke up early and headed down when we got there the pallet was empty. This was 40 minutes after them opening, but while shopping I went to grab a jar of pickles and found someone’s hidden stash!”
The father was able to bag several 12 packs of the Ice Pop Prime for £15.49, and hopes selling it will help customers ‘support local’ while enjoying some delicious baked goods.
John, whose business is based in Northampton, said: “Hey guys, I'm sure you’re wondering, where are all of the brownies and what is with all this Prime? Well the sad reality is Instagram is stifling small businesses and because this is trending at the moment, we thought we might as well stock it here in the shop.
“The way that you can get this Prime is you can come down, purchase any one of our items off our menus, support local, and then you’ll be able to purchase this at an incredibly low price.
“This is going to be at a very reasonable price but we don't know what that is yet because we have to figure out what it costs in gas and running around to get them.”x
The business owner clarified that they will not be selling Prime by itself, but alongside the purchase of any of their ‘epic desserts’, adding: “We also don’t think prime should be £25 a bottle.”
And if you think you recognise John from somewhere, you probably do!
John moved from New York to Milton Keynes in 2004, relocating to Northampton two years later. He is a licensed bodyguard who has served US presidents and British royals - but his skills don't stop there.
The baking enthusiast has been a professional Mr T lookalike for 10 years, and featured on Britain’s Got Talent in 2010, travelling the world with the Chippendoubles.]
John and Leo, aged 15, launched Brooklyn Brownie Co in June 2019, tapping into John’s New York roots. But when Leo’s mum took her own life just weeks later, the brownie business became a way for the father and son to connect and talk about their feelings.
John Lashley added: "The start of Brooklyn Brownie Co has extra significance to us both as Leo's mother, a NHS nurse, took her own life only days after it was set up.
"We truly believe baking and working on the business together has helped us both get through an extremely tough time for the family. If we didn't have Brooklyn Brownie Co. to keep us going and to distract us, then I don't think we would've got through the summer of 2019.
"As two dudes we also found it possible to open up to each other about our feelings, while coming up with some of the wacky designs and creations for the business.”
You can find out more about Brooklyn Brownie Co on their Instagram page.
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