Technically, I’m not sure we can even say that the Duchess of Sussex has “launched” American Riviera Orchard. Nothing has been sold and there’s no online shop or Kohl’s ARO line. All we’ve seen is that Meghan has an ARO Instagram and she sent out some small-batch strawberry jam to some of her friends. Jam recipients: Tracy Robbins, Delfina Balquier, and now Kelly McKee Zajfen. Zajfen is the founder of Alliance of Moms and she’s good friends with Meghan. Zajfen posted her lemons-and-jam gifts yesterday, and of course the British media is obsessively tracking all of it. The Mail has already called in every jam expert, every brand expert, every American lifestyle expert they can find. Speaking of:
Meghan Markle distributed strawberry jam to her friends as a way of highlighting her new business venture by giving them a ‘personal present’ that she likely produced herself with ingredients sourced from Montecito, a branding expert revealed today. The Duchess of Sussex sent friends a limited-edition jar ahead of the formal launch of her brand American Riviera Orchard (ARO) later this spring with a range of items.
Fashion designer Tracy Robbins and Argentine socialite Delfina Balquier posted on Instagram that they each received one of the jars, which PR expert Nick Ede said looked ‘very home made with a stylish crest and almost handwritten brand name’.
Mr Ede said the jam ‘will have most likely have been sourced in Montecito and produced by hand by Meghan herself to make them feel special and thought of.’ He claimed her strategy was ‘highlighting the brand rather than Meghan’ as she tries to get people to ‘buy into the ARO lifestyle not just her own personal brand’.
But Mr Ede added that the lack of information about Meghan’s jam and no way to buy it yet ‘could be frustrating to potential purchasers and fans who want to know more’.
Speaking about the launch today, Mr Ede told MailOnline: ‘The creation of individually numbered jars of jam sent to a selected group of influential people is exactly what I thought that Meghan would do. The whole premise of her new brand American Riviera Orchard is to highlight the quality and origin of the locally sourced ingredients and how they have been lovingly made into jam. As a way of getting the brand out there and in keeping with the home-made, straight from the home aesthetic that she has gone for it works really well.’
‘The idea that she’s only sent it to 50 people shows that the stock is limited and creates a demand too and interest. As a launch its low key but in keeping with their new softer, homely approach to their celebrity status and lifestyle.’
This dude has no idea what’s happening but at least his first instinct wasn’t to scream, cry and throw up about how Meghan Is Doing Everything Wrong. He at least seems to understand that this simple act of jam-distribution is merely Meghan’s way of hyping a brand which has not actually launched yet. Considering these jam gift-baskets made it all the way to, like, CNN and the BBC, trust that Meghan knows that she’ll get wall-to-wall coverage no matter what she does.
Photos courtesy of Instar, Instagram Stories.