| Type | Private,[1] Brand |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1990[1] |
| Founder(s) | Charles, Prince of Wales[1] |
| Owner(s) | Waitrose |
| Website | duchyoriginals.com |
Duchy Originals from Waitrose[2] (Formerly Duchy Originals) is a brand of organic food sold mainly in Waitrose stores in the United Kingdom, but also in Booths supermarkets and small independent stores.[3] The Duchy Originals company was originally set up by Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1990 and named after the Duchy of Cornwall estates that are held in trust by the Prince of Wales. In September 2009, it was announced that a new arrangement had been agreed with Waitrose, this came into effect from August 2010 when products were relaunched along with a number of new lines under the Duchy Originals from Waitrose brand. This was as a result of an exclusive agreement between the two organisations.[4] From the brand's inception in 1990, Waitrose had been its largest customer. Prior to September 2009, a selected range of Duchy Originals products had been widely available in most major UK supermarkets.
In September 2009 it was announced that Duchy Originals had agreed an exclusive deal with Waitrose, for Waitrose to originate, manufacture, distribute and sell Duchy products within the UK, whereby Waitrose plan to expand the current range of around 200 products to around 500, and will continue the tradition of donating royalties to charity.[5] It was also stated that Charles, Prince of Wales would continue his involvement with the brand.[4]
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Duchy Originals was the name given to the brand of premium organic food and drink products. The company Duchy Originals owned the Duchy Originals brand, but does not sell food or drink that carries the Duchy Originals brand name. Instead products with the Duchy Originals name were sold and manufactured by a number of different retail companies, all of whom pay royalties to the Duchy Originals Company. The total annual value of these retail sales was over £53 million. However in September 2009 Waitrose gained the right to originate, manufacture, distribute and sell Duchy products. In August 2010 the range was relaunched albeit with new lines under the Duchy Originals from Waitrose brand.[2]
In December 2008, it was announced that the Duchy Originals brand was partnering with Nelsons to produce a line of herbal remedies.[6]
There are two other brands, Duchy Selections and Duchy Collections. Duchy Selections is a range of premium free-range (but not organic) pork and fish products and mineral waters, and Duchy Collections is a range of high quality non food products.
The “turnover” of the Duchy Originals Ltd company, which is the royalty income notified to the company, and which is also the gross profit, came to £4.86 million in 2006/7. Administrative expenses came to £3.31 million giving an operating profit of £1.53 million.[7]
The company Duchy Originals Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary company of The Prince's Charities Foundation, and from the profit of £1.53 million a charitable donation of £743,000 was given to the Prince’s Charities Foundation.
For Financial Year 2008/9, Duchy failed to make any profits and turnover slumped to £2.2 million. With an operating loss of £3.3 million, this is compared to the previous years operating profit of £57,000. This was prior to the exclusive arrangement with Waitrose which rescued the brand.[8]
The Duchy Originals Food company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Duchy Originals.
The Duchy Originals company did not manufacture Duchy Originals products until in 2006 the Duchy Originals Food company opened a factory in Launceston in Cornwall. The factory made both sweet and savoury pastry products. The factory made a loss of £447,158 in the financial year 2006/7.[9]
During 2009, the bakery in Launceston was sold, this contributed to the Duchy Originals company making a loss for 2009 - 10.[10]
The company was the subject of controversy, in which leading UK scientists say Duchy Originals promotes its herbal remedies products with scientifically unsound claims. Edzard Ernst, the UK's first professor of complementary medicine, said Duchy Originals detox products are "outright quackery".[11]