Meghan Markle’s As Ever range has launched on Wednesday last week and the products sold out within half an hour of going live via Daily Mail.
However, some royal fans are not impressed by an item in particular; The Duchess of Sussex‘s raspberry ‘jam’ has come under fire after appearing ‘watery’.
In the first public review of the $14 spread, which arrives in keepsake packaging, FEMAIL revealed how the confection was ‘very liquid and quite thin’.
‘If we hadn’t known better, we’d have thought it melted during its expedited journey to us,’ explained reviewer Jane Herz For Dailymail.Com.
‘When we stuck our spoon into Meghan’s raspberry spread, its consistency dripped off the silverware like a sauce.’
The review continued: ‘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.’
Fans on social media were quick to notice the thin consistency of the ‘jam’, with one person writing: ‘I can tell it’s runny just from the picture! No seeds, no texture. Just liquid red sugar water.’
Another person said on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Looks small, expensive, runny texture and not that special. I think I will stick with my regular jam.’
However, the reason Meghan’s spread is noticeably runny is likely because it is not actually being a jam – despite the Duchess herself claiming ‘jam is my jam’ in her Instagram post announcing the rebranding of her initial American Riviera Orchard business.
However, her As Ever preserves can’t technically be called jam, because ‘jam is equal parts sugar and fruit,’ explained Prince Harry’s wife in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
”I just don’t think you can taste the fruit that way,’ suggested the mother-of-two on her series.
Per Food & Wine, jam is regulated by the FDA, and it must come from a single fruit, containing at least 45 per cent fruit and 55 per cent sugar.
What Meghan is selling under As Ever is not called a jam or a preserve – it’s a spread, with ingredients of raspberries, organic pure cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate, and fruit pectin, a natural stabilizer.
On the As Ever website, the company claims the raspberry fruit spread ‘is inspired by the recipe Meghan crafted in her home kitchen’. The description of the Raspberry Spread in Keepsake Packaging also admits it ‘is crafted with a fluid texture so it can be drizzled, spread, poured and enjoyed for so much more than your morning toast’.
