Netflix staff are helping themselves to free As ever products — as the streamer’s Los Angeles offices are filled with Meghan Markle’s wares, Page Six has learned.
“Apparently, there are two storage rooms packed with As ever product,” said a source. “They’re literally just giving it away to employees — one (staffer) walked out with 10 products for free.”
We’re told jars of jam, candles, wine and Meghan’s famous flower petal sprinkles are being kept in storage rooms at the Icon tower and Epic building at the sprawling Netflix campus in Hollywood.
“There’s so much overstock,” confirmed a second source.
Page Six has reached out to Netflix and reps for Markle, who did not immediately return requests for comment.
Despite this, we’re told As ever inventory was “long ago” moved to another warehouse and is not stored at Netflix HQ. What remains at the offices is for gifting, sampling and promotional use, hence staff being allowed to take home freebies.
Markle sources were forced to deny the business was in trouble last month after a website glitch revealed unsold inventory of roughly 650,000 items.
Although now resolved, the site briefly displayed inventory that included approximately 220,000 jars of jam; 30,000 jars of honey; 90,000 candles; 80,000 tins of flower sprinkles and roughly 70,000 bottles of wine, including sauvignon blanc, rosé and brut sparkling wine.
As ever sells jam for $14 a jar, tea at $14 a box and honey for $32 a jar, alongside candles at $64. A bottle of rosé is $35, while a bottle of brut is $89.
Meghan’s site currently boasts a Valentine’s Day package, including chocolate, strawberry and raspberry spread, a candle featuring the scent of water lotus, sandalwood and California poppy, alongside hibiscus tea and flower sprinkles, on sale for $185.
According to posts shared on Reddit, users alleged they could uncover total stock counts by adding large quantities of individual items to their shopping carts, with the As ever website then displaying the maximum available number.
But sources with knowledge of the business insisted the brand is simply preparing for international expansion and point to growth – not a slowdown.
“While it’s normal for a business not to talk about sales data, I think it’s fair to say that the glitch that led to this data being revealed points to a business that isn’t just successful — it’s flying, literally off the shelf,” a source told People.
We revealed how Markle, 44, teamed up with Netflix to produce the goods for her lifestyle range after scrapping her plans to call her business American Riviera Orchard amid a trademark row.
The business was supposed to tie in with her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” and indeed, Markle used the series to promote her goods. However, as we reported, the show is not returning for a third season amid faltering ratings.
The series, which launched its second season last August, was viewed only two million times in the last four months of the year. It was the 1,217th most-watched title on Netflix over the second half of the year, per Netflix’s “What We Watched” data dump.
The show’s special – “With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration” – fared slightly better, coming in at 1,015 on the list with 2.4 million views.
Insiders said that Markle – who has a first look deal with Netflix with her husband, Prince Harry after the couples exclusive contract with the streamer was not renewed – now plans to focus on building her lifestyle brand and may make one-off holiday specials.
Markle declined to share sales figures while talking on the podcast, “The Circuit with Emily Chang,” last August, but she said much of the brand’s inventory had sold out quickly — including its debut rosé, which went in under an hour.
“When you sell out that quickly, actually, it’s a double-edged sword, because it’s an incredible thing to happen for any small business and any startup, and at the same time, you don’t get the same metrics and learnings about which products are the most coveted, because it’s all gone immediately,” she said.
She added that after the initial launch, the brand significantly increased inventory for a second seasonal drop.
“[We] thought for sure that would at least last for a couple weeks. That sold out in a couple hours. And suddenly the conversation goes from, at the start of this year, talking about a few thousands jars and lids to, ‘We need to do a purchase order of a million.’ And that’s a huge jump in just a few months of starting a business,” she explained.
When Chang asked whether the plan was to expand globally, Markle replied, “Yes, absolutely.”
