The Duchess of Sussex has a new interview with Fast Company. It’s entirely about her businesses – her Netflix show, her As Ever line and the Confessions of a Female Founder podcast. It sounds like Meghan is having a quiet moment where she’s planning and mapping out the future for all of these ventures and more. She isn’t breaking big news in this piece, but she does make some interesting confirmations, namely: there’s interest in a second COAFF season; As Ever will probably be restocked at some point, but there will be even more products offered next year; Netflix collaborates with her on almost every aspect of As Ever; the new products will probably involve tableware, kitchenware and the like. Some highlights from Fast Company:
Archie lost his first tooth: Meghan rushed home to ensure she could be the one to leave a little money and a small dinosaur under his pillow. At 2 a.m., Archie woke Meghan up excitedly to tell her what had happened. “I had a lot of business meetings the next morning, but I still chose to cuddle with him the rest of the night,” she says. “Those mom moments energize me to be a better founder, a better employer, a better boss.”
How Netflix got involved with As Ever: Meghan says that she had been exploring various ways of launching a business when Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, approached her. “At the time, I had been working towards building out my own in-house team,” Meghan says. “But I had a complete U-turn because I completely bought into the vision she was sharing, which is where content and commerce meet, not in a product placement way, but rather in an ideological way.”
Why As Ever is separate from WLM: In many ways, this is a pioneering partnership for Netflix. Along with Meghan, the Netflix team decided that it made sense for As Ever to exists on its own, without any Netflix branding. This is why the line isn’t called, “With Love, Meghan,” like the show. “The brand is in the same universe at the show, but they’re not the same,” Meghan says. Meghan also points out that Netflix is not just a financial backer. The company’s consumer packaged goods team works closely with Meghan’s team to manufacture the products. “We are on calls daily, working through product development, SKUs, and inventory,” she says. “We have a field trip tomorrow to look at different manufacturers and suppliers as we expand the brand.”
As Ever’s next phase. Meghan says that even though the team spent a year preparing the line and forecasting demand, all the products on the site sold out in 45 minutes. Now, they’re trying to plan As Ever’s next phase. The easiest thing to do would have been to endlessly restock the popular products, which would likely sell out very quickly again. But while the As Ever team has hinted online that the items will be back on sale soon, Meghan also wants to take a step back, gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what As Ever could be. She says she’s planning to announce new products in the first quarter of 2026.
The As Ever expansion: Meghan’s trademark application for her brand includes things like cookbooks, tableware, cutlery, and serving ware. “I want to really focus on the hospitality angle of As Ever, but as we take the learnings, we can understand what the customer’s needs are seasonally.”
Building her brand around her love of home: “My heart is very deeply in my home. Everything comes from being rooted in the love story of your home and garden, and then you can imagine different verticals coming out of that.”
Perhaps a clothing business? I ask whether she might explore a clothing business, since many women are drawn to her personal style. “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 says.
What is her job description? “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.”
“The easiest thing to do would have been to endlessly restock the popular products, which would likely sell out very quickly again.” Yeah… that would be the plan of action which would make the most sense, which is why I do think it’s weird that Meghan hasn’t prioritized a restock yet. “Meghan also wants to take a step back, gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what As Ever could be.” She can do that while restocking her products!! To be clear, I fully support Meghan and her businesses, and so do tens of thousands of other people. Which is why I find it hard to believe that Meghan and her team think it’s smart to sell out once a year and leave it at that. That’s not a sustainable business model, especially when there are so many people dying to buy more jars of monarchy-destroying jam!
Photos courtesy of As Ever’s IG, screencap from the Jamie Kern Lima Show.
There is a quote in People magazine which seems to come directly from Meghan’s team that a restock will be coming soon. I think some people misunderstood Meghan saying that new products would be coming in 2026 to mean that As Ever would not be restocking this year. I pretty sure that’s not what she meant and comments given to People and Vanity Fair seem to confirm this. I expect seasonal restocking (summer, autumn) and then new products next year. I interpret coming soon as meaning we will get a restock at the beginning of summer.Remember Netflix is an investor in this brand they are in it to make money.
I hope so! I’m being more Scroogey than Scrooge with my last jar of the spread! lol
Seriously though, there are SO many verticals that could come out of WLM, even just going by Meg’s sell-out patterns, I just hope she doesn’t spread so fast and so thinly that she over saturates her own market. I think that’s what the slowness is about. A “dump” would be anticlimactic, if you get what I mean. I know for sure, I’d be interested in home/kitchen/clothing/beauty products as she has great taste. Plus, we’re still going through chain supply problems since Covid, and sourcing and production has not come back to pre-pandemic levels yet.
Still, with all that said, I will keep checking the shop.my and As Ever pages every day or so to look for updates! 😊
I’m hoping it means that there will be a restock soon but a bigger expansion later. Cuz I’d like more raspberry jam please. And I’ll try some strawberry too. Bw this interview and her podcast, Meghan seems very deep into building her as ever brand. And is enjoying the process. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes…in 2026😂
I also took it to mean a restock is coming soon ( probably summer) and new products will be introduced next year.
I hope each quarter she introduces seasonal items. Can’t wait to see what she does for the holidays!
This is my interpretation as well. a restock is coming soon-ish, but they are going to roll out more products…..whatever the first quarter of 2026 means. does she mean the fall? in my work FY2026 will start october 1 s I think of that as the “first quarter of 2026” but technically I guess its January-March. Maybe they have some more planned to launch with the second season of WLM?
I’d like to think that a restock is happening, then season 2 and maybe one more restock with a holiday special, unless season 2 addresses holidays. And then new products aligned with a season 3 of WLM. And that season 3 will somehow be filmed without the BM knowing. But that’s just my wish list.
Our go-to with the raspberry spread was to use it at the bottom of parfaits. We used the last of the second jar yesterday and now I’m sad. It was so tasty!
I’m so mad at myself for only buying one jar.
If I had known how much I would love it and how fast that one jar went I would have stocked up if I could. I know many people are feeling the same way. I have no doubt people will try and stock up next time. It’s gonna be a blood bath 😩🤭
There’ll probably be a re-stock sometime during the summer. I really think that Meghan and the team thought that they had enough stock to last the spring and unestimated how many items would sell in the first drop. It’s makes sense that she would want to re-evaluate their strategy for the re-stock. This interview was very good btw.
Fast company edited their article to add the “the as ever team has hinted online that the items will be back on sale soon” and both People mag & Vanity Fair have clearly got comment from the As Ever comms team that existing products will be back on sale soon & new products will launch in 2026- my guess is garden & homeware going from the As Ever Sm posts.
https://people.com/meghan-markle-asked-starting-fashion-line-11742548
The fast company article was really good. Nice to learn about the evolution of the partnership with Netflix & how closely they are working together & future plans for As Ever as well as the fact there’s interest in season 2 of Confessions of a female founder
Just here to say, still eating the jam/spread. Still delicious.
And I appreciate her playing the long game as a business plan. But I’m with the author- restock! Some people didn’t get anything.
It appears Netflix is the powerhouse behind as As Ever. I know there was some trademark issues and problems getting American Riviera Orchard off the ground so I think Meghan was smart to get with Netflix and have their consumer goods team run As Ever. They know what they’re doing and I’m sure Netflix’s commerce team is cream of the crop talent. Very smart of Meghan strategically.
While at first glance, I thought it was pretty strange to sell a small batch of products for one day a year but the more I think about it and the significant level of Netflix’s involvement, the more it makes sense.
I suspect the 2026 date for the second drop is to align with season 2 of her show! I expect a much more expanded and well stocked product line then to be developed by Netflix. And it sounds like Meghan consults on it and will give her vision and stamp of approval while Netflix does the heavy lifting.
Season 1 show and season 1 As Ever launch were really to test the water. They’ve both proven to be successful and I look forward to phase 2.
She didn’t say the second drop would be in 2026 she said new products would be introduced in 2026. I expect a restock of the current products will happen this summer.
Isn’t season 2 coming out in the fall? Now I’m trying to remember if that was ever said or if I just assumed that?
@Jais, youre right…….S2 of WLM begins this fall (Fall begins Sept 22).
At this point, I’m going to pretend there never was a first launch. Then it will be a delightful surprise when restocking actually happens.
I get the feeling they had to scale up faster than expected and thats why it seems like a pause. One thing I’ve learned from Meghan is she would much rather stop, reassess, and have a clear path forward rather than build as you go. Unfortunately for Meghan the demand for her is so intense that no one has any patience for these pauses lol.
That’s my guess, too, and it’s a common pitfall when businesses have to scale up so quickly. Especially a business that just launched. It’s all too common for a small artisan operation to scramble and try to rush to fulfill the demand with subpar products and end up way over their skis and having to apologize.
Unfortunately, though, Meghan and As Ever don’t have the luxury of being able to fail like that. We know that the derangers, the press, and her rivals are all waiting and hoping for her to miss a step so they can jump down her throat.
I don’t blame Meghan one bit for checking, double checking and triple checking her suppliers to make sure she doesn’t a. Sell out again immediately or b. Send out product that was rushed or doesn’t meet standards. You know someone at the Fail already has some fanfiction about this (“As Never: Why Meghan’s Expensive Tat Is n’t Worth the Hype”) just waiting, watching and hoping for her to fail.
Imma be so real. They need to get that jam restocked asap!
Not only because I’m down to rationing the very last teaspoon but also because it’s past time it was available again and it’s not good business to go this long without product getting to consumers.
Stock it quick! We are ready to buy more.
I’m ok, just crying from Ireland about not being able to get any of it!! I am however, currently in Manchester and I wandered into Sostrene Grene yesterday where I found some gorgeous tea pick and mix and…… EDIBLE FLOWER SPRINKLES! Can’t wait to try them out ❤️
The flower sprinkles! Not Meghan’s but still very cool.
I know, I was so happy to find them. And then my mind went to “Ooh, so this company has obviously watched and learned from WLM!!” 🤣😍😍
I didn’t manage to get even a single jar of the spread first time around … I’m going to be on any restock like a fiend, buying what I can!
@ QuiteContrary – I didn’t get any spread either and I’m already stressing about the re-stock. How are we going to know when that e-mail is going to drop? Do I need anti-anxiety pills? 😅
Meghan can stop all this restocking yes – no confusion by communicating DIRECTLY and CLEARLY! with her customers and followers through her website and business IG .Sent out a newsletter, for Christ sake. The last one was mounts ago.
All her interviews and PR quotes reg. her businesses are causing confusion and misunderstanding, even after “clarifications”. And I don’t mean confusion by the tablod rats, just by herself. You have your platfom now, use it fir important massiging. And as we’ve heard, you have many high-paid Comms people, used them wisely too – use it/them to communicate clearly, not just post pics and clips. I’m a fan since 2014, but now you’re really starting to annoy me, regarding your unclear communications.
I don’t understand the vagueness around this. It makes no sense from a business standpoint. That is my main frustration with the Sussexes. They’ve been so traumatized by leaks and sabotage from their palace days that they keep everything too tight to the chest when sometimes transparency is the best approach
I agree. I sympathize with the fact that Meghan doesn’t have the luxury of the learning curve she might have envisioned, but it is what it is, and fortunately for her, what it is so far has been massively positive. Something simple like, we’re doing our best to restock as quickly as possible but the huge success of our first offerings – and thanks so much to all of you for your support – has temporarily overwhelmed our suppliers, yada yada, would be a good move. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Netflix team was taken aback as well by the overwhelming response, but it’s time for some clarity about what to expect next, and when, if the goal is a long term successful product line.
And regardless of what publication or program is interviewing her (I know Fast Company is a business focused company) I hope Meghan avoids going further down the road of business speak – phrases like “where content and commerce meet, not in a product placement way, but rather in an ideological way” or “verticals coming out of that” tend to lose me pretty quickly, no matter who it is that’s being quoted.
But Meghan’s IG post when she announced the line had sold out DID thank customers for their support & then the website said that more stock of the existing collection would be coming soon. The fast company article was updated to clarify there would be new products in 2026 as well as restocks of existing products & Meghan’s comms team have also briefed media like people mag that a restock is coming soon.
If you have ever had a wanted a popular item from eg a fashion line when the product sells out, if it’s a item that will return to stock the website will say coming soon about the item but doesn’t typically indicate a date/timeline of when it will be back in stock. I know with bigger brands they will say register for updates & you might get an email alert only when the item is back in stock. Even right now with Beyoncé’s popular edge hair drop selling out within days & then coming back on sale months later there’s never an indicator of when it will be back in stock- you only get an announcement when it’s actually back in stock. So im not clear on why some are expecting Meghan /as ever to deviate from common business practice especially when making products like food produce relies on lots of external factors like weather, supply chain etc
Overall it was a very good interview. I hope there’s another season of COAFF or she does another topic. We gave seen hints on Instagram that a restock is coming but it wasn’t clear in the article that this is the case. I don’t understand the vagueness around this. They should just say why there’s a delay on restocking. Just put something on the website and be direct. This is unprofessional not being direct about it. I think Meghan has gotten into her head too much of the negativity so maybe they really underestimated the demand and was surprised that she sold out all their inventory. I bet they thought they’d have a few weeks supply. This could be an issue of vendor capacity. If she anticipated a small batch and booked a facility that makes other products, it could be that there isn’t capacity to do another batch right now, hence the trip looking for other facilities that meet AsEvers standards. I’m actually excited for her on this because so many possibilities but the team has to get the inventory issue sorted. Also stop teasing us with videos of jam and honey. I want that honey so bad.
The vagueness & confusion is annoying me, just send an email directly to your customers and let them know
I agree with Meghan’s strategy……..she does not need the money….make the products exclusive and rare to start ….less is more…build up the excitement and demand for the next release…….explore what she really wants and do not allow more returns or complaints etc to tar the brand before it is really established and has many good reviews and loyal customers.
Love the idea of the household goods and I wonder if she will do a ‘Wedding List’ with exclusive gifts /offers and all packaged and delivered with her wishes on a bespoke card to the lucky couple! Outfits next on this range for the mother of the bride? Older women want style and all sizes and good price range.