Meghan Markle is changing the white label supplier that makes her As Ever-branded jam, tea, and flower sprinkles after her online store was blighted by empty shelves.
Her products, including jams, flower sprinkles, and honey, have been available for a grand total of less than two hours in the three months since they first went on sale in April.
To put it another way, over the course of three months, shelves have been fully stocked for just 0.01 percent of the time.
The first As Ever drop sold out in less than an hour on April 2. Following the rush, Markle told consumers she had “exponentially increased” supply for the next batch to avoid repeat disappointment. Yet on June 20, the restocked items—including jams, a crêpe mix, and the famous flower petals—sold out in less than an hour again.
Her team tried to put a positive spin on the situation with an Instagram post: “Cheers, dears! Wishing you a wonderful weekend! You’ve certainly made ours wonderful. We sold out … again!”
But behind the upbeat tone, the repetition is starting to hint at a lack of control, especially relevant given Markle’s launch of her latest product, a Napa Valley rosé, on July 1. Another sell-out scenario could risk tipping the brand from buzzy exclusivity into operational embarrassment.
A telling line in a Daily Mail report this week suggests that Markle and her partners at Netflix are aware of the risk: “A source close to Meghan confirmed to the Daily Mail that Republic of Tea makes her As Ever raspberry spread, but said the supplier was changing.”
Markle’s press office has been contacted for comment.
The formulation “a source close to” is often use by media to reference an official or company source speaking on background and strongly suggests Markle and her team at Netflix are looking to leave Republic of Tea, the white-label manufacturer responsible for several As Ever items—including a $28 orange blossom honey and the now-sold-out raspberry spread.
Markle herself addressed the issue in a June 17 interview for the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast. She admitted, “I knew that I had a decision to make, which came down to, what is our timeline to be able to restock these products that we had?”
She continued: “We can restock what we had at those same quantities, but then I’ll have another sell-out, and I don’t want that for people. I think scarcity is great if it happens organically at the onset, but at a certain point, even being consumer-minded, I would be fatigued if that kept happening.”
Still, the rapid sell-outs suggest As Ever is either struggling to manage its logistics, which risks undermining customer confidence. Without transparency on volumes or restock timelines, the impression is that the brand is still not ready for sustained demand.
Now, all eyes are on the rosé launch. If the wine vanishes in minutes or triggers complaints about website crashes and unfulfilled orders, it may do more than dent the brand’s image. It could raise broader questions about whether As Ever will ever be ready for the commercial scale its popularity demands.
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