Latest news with #jam
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Meghan Markle shares a new photo as she launches new products from her As Ever brand today (and promises fans, 'sweet things and delicious surprises')
Meghan Markle will today release a hotly-anticipated restock of items from her lifestyle brand two months after the first batch of products sold out within an hour. The Duchess of Sussex teased the launch with an Instagram post on her As Ever account at midnight Pacific Time (8am UK time) this morning, with a new photograph of her smiling on a garden swing with the simple caption: 'No more sleeps'. Meghan had promised some 'delicious surprises' after describing the April launch of her As Ever products including jam and herbal tea as 'absolutely extraordinary'. In an Instagram post on June 16, the California-based Duchess wrote: 'Oh yes, honey… sweet things await. Mark your calendars for June 20 at 8am PT – we're bringing back your favorites, plus some delicious surprises you won't want to miss!' Pacific Time is eight hours ahead of BST, meaning the launch will be at 4pm UK time. In a newsletter issued on June 16, the former Suits actress also wrote: 'First off, a sincere thank you for making the debut of As Ever absolutely extraordinary. 'We had a feeling there would be excitement, but to see everything sell out in less than an hour was an amazing surprise. We are pleased to share that on June 20th, we're going live with the products you love – plus, some new delicious surprises.' The latest email was noticeably different to Meghan's first As Ever message, which was a long piece full of inspirational quotes and personal anecdotes. Sarah Schmidt, celebrity publicist and president of PR firm Interdependence, told MailOnline on Wednesday: 'Meghan's first As Ever newsletter was poetic and intimate. 'It positioned the brand as an extension of her personal rituals and values, written in the voice of someone building a lifestyle, not just selling a product. 'The latest email, by contrast, is pure transaction: short, strategic and sales-focused. And that pivot is telling.' She explained that the audience is now witnessing a 'shift' in Meghan from a 'founder-as-storyteller' to 'founder-as-operator.' Ms Schmidt added: 'It suggests a brand moving from emotional origin story into operational scale. However, when key team members exit and the tone tightens, audiences can feel that. 'If the first email said, 'Come into my garden,' the second says, 'Get ready to shop.' Neither is wrong, but the dissonance creates questions. Not just about Meghan's role but about the heart and soul of the brand.' Earlier this month Meghan said she had decided to 'just pause' restocking her brand, saying she wanted to wait until it is 'completely stable and we have everything we need'. She also spoke of the difficulties of building her firm and 'how many tears' she has shed behind the scenes on a bonus episode of her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast featuring Beyonce's mother Tina Knowles. Meghan had suggested the 'scarcity mentality at the beginning might be a hook for people', comparing it to 'a sneaker drop'. But she feared it might be 'annoying' for customers, adding: 'I don't want you to eat that jam once every six months. I want that to be on your shelf all the time.' Meghan said: 'So for me at the moment, with As Ever, it was great. We planned for a year we get and then everything sells out in 45 minutes. 'Yes, amazing, great news. Then what do you do? And then you say 'Ok, we planned as best as we could. Are we going to replenish and sell out again in an hour? Or is that annoying as a customer? 'I'm looking at it saying 'Just pause. That happened. Let's wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need'.' She added how people 'see all the flashy stuff and they see the product. But that end game… those behind the scenes moments, how many tears I've shed'. Meanwhile, this week the Duchess denied that her personal Instagram account, where she shares behind the scenes footage of family life, is a tool to promote her business. Meghan said returning to social media at the start of the year was 'a great way to get my voice back', and she uses it for 'authentic' sharing such as her twerking video. She added: 'It's my space and my channel for joy.' The former Suits actress went back on Instagram in January, first with footage of her running around a beach and writing 2025 in the sand, and then a montage from her Netflix show With Love, Meghan. The Duchess has since made numerous posts about As Ever, mentioning her As Ever Instagram account, but has also released photos and videos of the Sussexes' life with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. On Lili's fourth birthday last week, Meghan shared footage of herself twerking in a labour room while heavily pregnant with her daughter. On the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast, entrepreneur Grede asked Meghan about her return to social media, saying: 'Are you thinking about it in the way that so many of us do as also a business tool?' Meghan replied: 'Not for my personal account, no.' Grede challenged her, asking: 'Really?' Meghan said: 'For my personal account? …No.' Grede told her: 'Well that's the one we're all following.' Meghan replied and laughed: 'Well good…as long as you're following As Ever too. No, I think for me it was great way to get my voice back… It's my space and my channel for joy – that is the intention of my handle.' Meghan's personal account @Meghan has 3.8 million followers. Her @aseverofficial account has 847,000 followers, and is linked into her @Meghan bio, as is her ShopMy collection.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Meghan Markle shares long-awaited update on her As Ever lifestyle products
Meghan Markle has revealed the release date for her new set of As Ever products - and it's just days away. The Duchess Of Sussex, 43, took to Instagram on Monday evening to tease the 'delicious surprises' that will be in store during the second launch of her lifestyle brand. And she revealed that the products - which will also include previous 'favourites' - will be back even sooner than previously thought, with the restock going live on June 30 at 8am. She wrote on her As Ever Instagram account: 'Oh yes, honey…sweet things await. Mark your calendars for June 20 at 8 a.m. PT - we're bringing back your favorites, plus some delicious surprises you won't want to miss!' She added a picture of a stock of pancakes, topped with sweet raspberries and a generous drizzle of honey. As implied by the caption, Meghan's honey will be set to make a return - and it's likely her famous jam will also be up for grabs. In a newsletter to fans, she added: 'First off, a sincere thank you for making the debut of As ever absolutely extraordinary. We had a feeling there would be excitement, but to see everything sell out in less than an hour was an amazing surprise. 'We are pleased to share that on June 20th, we're going live with the products you love – plus, some new delicious surprises. 'More details and exact timing will be shared soon.' She added a picture of a stock of pancakes, topped with sweet raspberries and a generous drizzle of honey After reports she had decided to 'pause' restocking the line, Meghan earlier this month revealed that As Ever would indeed be making a return. Alongside a snapshot of bowls of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries resting on a kitchen countertop, she wrote: 'To all who've been wondering and waiting, thank you! 'Your favorites are returning, plus a few NEW things we can't wait to show you. Coming this month... get excited!' The original As Ever range went on sale in March and products sold out within half an hour of going live. Meghan's first line of products included raspberry spread, honey, herbal tea and ready made crepe mix - all of which received a less than stellar review by Daily Mail's FEMAIL team. Her announcement comes after she released a bonus episode of her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder where Meghan told of the difficulties of building her firm and 'tears' she has shed behind the scenes to Beyonce's mother Tina Knowles. She said of the April launch of As Ever goods including jam that a 'scarcity mentality at the beginning might be a hook for people,' comparing it to 'a sneaker drop.' But Meghan feared it might be 'annoying' for customers, adding: 'I don't want you to eat that jam once every six months. I want that to be on your shelf all the time.' The Duchess said: 'So for me at the moment, with As Ever, it was great. We planned for a year we get and then everything sells out in 45 minutes. 'Yes, amazing, great news. Then what do you do? And then you say 'Ok, we planned as best as we could. Are we going to replenish and sell out again in an hour? Or is that annoying as a customer? 'I'm looking at it saying 'Just pause. That happened. Let's wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need.'' Then, just a few weeks ago, the mother-of two recently hinted that she might never restock her jam in an interview with a US business magazine which said she was planning to 'step back to assess' her brand. The interview came as the entrepreneur was speaking about her business and balancing work with motherhood as the first series of her podcast, published by Lemonada Media, comes to a close. In the interview - given to coincide with the final episode of Confessions of a Female Founder - the Fast Company said Meghan wanted to 'step back, gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what As Ever could be.' Meghan also revealed the surprising turn As Ever could take - hinting at a future step into the fashion industry - but said for now she is planning to launch a new range of merchandise in early 2026. Addressing her first online shop, Meghan said Netflix agreed that rather than market her products under their brand, it would make sense for her to have her own store 'The category of fashion is something I will explore at a later date, because I do think that's an interesting space for me,' she said. Her previous store sold out in 45 minutes and contained homely items as well as her long-awaited pots of jam. Addressing her first online shop, Meghan said Netflix agreed that rather than market her products under their brand, it would make sense for her to have her own store. Netflix already has its own online shop selling brand-related products such as Stranger Things bomber jackets and Squid Game merchandise. In the interview, the Duchess also revealed she wouldn't know 'what to call herself' if she had to write a resume. She said: 'If I had to write a résumé, I don't know what I would call myself. 'I think it speaks to this chapter many of us find ourselves in, where none of us are one note. But I believe all the notes I am playing are part of the same song.' When FEMAIL got their hands on Meghan's products in April, we found her jam to be very liquid-y and loose on its own. After trying it by the spoonful, which left us grimacing from the sweetness, we spread some on a toasted piece of sourdough, which is where things began to take a turn for the worse. It was difficult to eat the spread with the toast, as it was so thin that it dribbled everywhere and made a mess. Our once nicely toasted piece of bread became a sopping wet disaster after just a few minutes. Drizzled over vanilla ice cream, a piece of pie, or a big stack of pancakes, the spread may work, and may even shine. But on its own, or eaten as one would expect to be able to enjoy jam, the product crumbled, or rather dripped, under the pressure.
News.com.au
10-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- News.com.au
Meghan struggles to pull off five year makeover
Imagine the possibilities if the US Food and Drug Administration were not such spoilsports. Then Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex would be able to call what she sells 'jam' rather than a 'spread'. Imagine the headlines options: 'in a jam' or 'jam-packed' or 'jammin''. Boo. But no matter what you call the fruity $13.90 (USD$9) jars of the sweet stuff from by the duchess' As Ever label, never in history has not-jam (or even jam) made this much news. This week's update from the sugary, breakfast frontlines: Chaos. Or at least some topsy-turvy confusion and mixed messages about what is going on with the duchess' lifestyle company. It's now been over 64 DAYS since Meghan's first As Ever products went on sale with them selling out within 45 minutes, which is less time than it takes Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex to have a morose but therapeutic session with the power hose out the back. (The speed with which the shelves were left empty was a brilliant PR-able detail but one that failed to quite specify how big the run was. Or as the Telegraph put the first batch's selling out so fast, 'a common marketing ploy'.) In the two months since then, eager jam heads and Sussex-stans have been forced to wait patiently for As Ever products to be restocked, resulting in oh so very many slices of toast left undolloped and unadorned by a bit of Meghan's Matha-ish handiwork. (It is by all accounts a very very good spread too.) However, that is about to change at some point with something to be made available to buy at some point in the near future. Still unclear? Don't worry, we all are. It can be hard to keep abreast of where things stand with the duchess' move into the lifestyle space because it's been a long, bumpy ride to even get to this point. First up came an interview with Meghan in business publication Fast Company last week, which reported that she wanted 'to take a step back, gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what As Ever could be.' The same piece reported that there would be new As Ever products coming but only in 2026. It sounded like the duchess was singing from a similar songsheet when she released a bonus episode of her Confessions Of A Female Founder podcast with Tina Knowles, aka Beyoncé's mum, in which she talked about 'pausing' the brand. She explained that the 'scarcity mentality at the beginning might be a hook for people', but that 'I don't want you to eat that jam once every six months. I want that to be on your shelf all the time.' Therefore, she said of her thinking: 'I'm looking at it saying 'just pause' … Let's wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need.' Only for then, hope you're keeping up here, hours later, the As Ever Instagram account to announce that 'favourite' items would be restocked this month 'plus a few NEW things we can't wait to show you … get excited!' Quoi? If you are frowning at the screen trying to make sense of all of this, know you are not alone. Nothing about As Ever has been simple. Err … ever. As far as births go, the lifestyle brand's has been a long and painful one without an epidural. At some point in 2023 speculation started hub-bubbling away in the press that the duchess was cooking up some sort of clever clogs commercial project, a concept boosted when she and Harry hired a supposed top Hollywood deal-maker who works at 'intersection of celebrity and venture investing' Fast forward to March 2024 when the duchess released a painfully twee Instagram video announcing her new company American Riviera Orchard (ARO) followed by a splashy celebrity jam drop that saw stars briefly pretend to cosplay eating carbohydrates for the sake of bucking up her brand. Then came months that saw ARO face regular, embarrassing headlines as attempts to trademark the name failed like floppy souffles and ARO soon disappeared into the business Bermuda Triangle. (Last year the Daily Mail columnist Richard Eden, who is an ardently anti Sussex, claimed that the duchess had jumped the gun on launching ARO to prevent him getting the scoop.) February finally saw ARO put out of its misery, when Harry manned the iPhone to film his wife oddly squatting In a garden bed to swap ARO with As Ever, a name which sounded like the title of a Hallmark Cinderella remake set in a perfect Vermont town and involving a lovelorn baker. Farewell ARO, we hardly knew ye. Also setting As Ever apart – Netflix had gotten involved putting up money and sending their 'consumer packaged goods team' to work closely with the duchess' team. On March 4 her Netflix series With Love Meghan finally dropped, with her achieving the previously impossible feat of cooking in white linen trousers and not ending up splattered in a simmering tomato sauce. Kudos. Yet still, eager punters had to wait for Meghan's products to finally hit online shelves – only for them to sell out in under an hour and for the Duchess of Sussex later to have to apologise for accidentally overselling $43 jars of honey. Confusingly still, the duchess revealed during this week's Confessions episode that even to get to this point she and her team had 'planned for a year'. In short, in 15 months we've had more ups and downs and lawyers and jam data and Kris Jenners than even Leo Tolstoy on a dramatic tear could have come up with. I'm sure there's some trite Instagramy saying about things that are worth doing are never easy or simple but ARO and As Ever's travails come after 30 months of career turmoil. Since the bang up success of Harry's Spare, the couple has parted ways with Spotify, had Polo and Heart of Invictus flop majorly, have failed to produce any scripted content for Netflix, faced ongoing reports about high staff turnover, had Harry's charities hit with controversies and PR crises, and had The Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair publish exposés offering deeply unflattering portraits of the duke and duchess as employers. But here's the thing – no matter Meghan's track record, the reviews of her raspberry not-jam, including from the UK papers, were positive. The consensus from food critics and reviewers: It's good stuff. Meghan has a winner on her hands even if her flower sprinkles might be the most useless culinary invention since someone came up with the idea of grape scissors. So can or will the Duchess of Sussex segue out of the mayhem era and transform herself into a fighting fit CEO atop a successful lifestyle empire? The breakfast tables of America need her even if the royal family didn't seem to. A comeuppance might never be so sweet.
Daily Mail
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
JAN MOIR: Meghan's bizarre twerking in the delivery room is just the latest desperate bid for publicity from the Sussexes. Whatever happened to their pleas for privacy?
First there was jam and there was no jam now the jam is back – but not just yet. 'Everybody knows that jam is my jam,' the Duchess of Sussex once said, but then she promptly got into a jam and ran out of jam.
The Independent
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Meghan promises new products – and the return of her jam
The Duchess of Sussex has promised her As Ever goods will be back in stock this month – alongside 'a few new things we can't wait to show you'. The about-turn came hours after she was heard telling Beyonce's mother she had decided to 'just pause' until completely ready. Meghan appeared on her own podcast on Tuesday, recorded in May, telling Tina Knowles she feared annoying customers when the first batch of her jam and herbal teas sold out in less than an hour. She said wanted to wait until it is 'completely stable and we have everything we need'. Meghan has since shared a photo of jam-making preparations including bowls of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, and freshly squeezed lemons, on her Instagram stories, writing: ''June gloom?' Not over here! Because this month your favourite products are back.' Her official AsEver account also posted: 'To all who've been wondering and waiting, thank you! 'Your favorites are returning, plus a few NEW things we can't wait to show you. Coming this month…get excited!' The duchess's bonus Confessions Of A Female Founder episode with Knowles was recorded on May 5, the day before Prince Archie's sixth birthday. Meghan, who celebrated Princess Lilibet's fourth birthday on Wednesday by sharing previously unseen black and white family photographs of herself with her daughter, began selling her As Ever products in April. The range includes flower sprinkles, which she used liberally during her Netflix lifestyle show, and raspberry spread, a crepe mix, wildflower honey and an assortment of herbal teas. She renamed her brand from American Riviera Orchard after running into trademark issues.
