Prince Charles defies credit crunch by selling his biscuits to Waitrose

Sri Carmichael, Consumer Affairs Reporter
10.09.09

Prince Charles's struggling organic food company Duchy Originals was today rescued by Waitrose in a multi-million pound investment deal.

The partnership will allow the prince's business to resume giving money to charity again after two years of battling the recession.

Duchy Originals' profits collapsed by 80 per cent to less than £60,000 in 2008 and failed to improve this year as cash-strapped shoppers shunned premium produce.

Charles's biscuits and sausages will now be produced and sold exclusively by Waitrose.

It plans to more than double the size of the new jointly-branded "Duchy Originals From Waitrose" range from 200 to 500 items.

The prince will maintain a "key hands-on supervisory role".

Under the new licence agreement Waitrose will pay a fixed percentage royalty on all sales to Duchy Originals, which is to remain an independent company wholly owned by the Prince's Charities Foundation.

There will also be a guaranteed "safety net" minimum payment to ensure that the prince's business never again returns to a situation where it fails to make money to pass on to his foundation of charities.

Duchy Originals hands over all its profits to its parent trust, the Prince's Charities Foundation, which distributes money to more than 130 charities. It has raised £7million since it was established in 1990.

Royal aides said Charles was "delighted" by today's deal.

And Waitrose managing director Mark Price called Duchy "a great brand, which upholds quintessentially British values and can be successfully developed".

But both Waitrose and Duchy companies admit the range of products needs to be cheaper if they are to recapture customers.

Duchy Originals' chief executive Andrew Barker told the Standard: "We became slightly elitist and we need to become more accessibly priced for customers."

Duchy has already reduced the size and cost of its packets of biscuits to make them more appealing. The partnership deal begins on 1 October.

• 

  Lenny Henry: 'Maybe one day we can have a black Doctor Who'

  As he wins the outstanding newcomer prize at the Evening Standard theatre awards for his role as Othello, Lenny Henry has come a long way from black and white minstrels

  ---

• 

  Spread of the Jedhead

  Jedward, voted off the X-Factor this weekend, are the most obvious proponents of the sticky-uppy look - but the style crosses boundaries of age, gender, sexuality and taste, says Nick Curtis

  ---

Sky in plot to hire students on the cheap

Sky News is currently recruiting students as reporters for its coverage of next year's general election. However, the opportunity doesn't quite seem so appealing

All stories