The Duchy brand, first introduced to Waitrose in 2009, was a creation of Prince Charles with the intention of representing ‘the very best of sustainably sourced and organic British products. In 2013 the Prices of Wales stated ‘Right from the start, preserving our heritage, upholding traditional skills and supporting local communities were of fundamental importance to the brand.’ However many members feels that it seems contradictory that a brand created to celebrate our ‘British heritage’ is also made up of imported products.
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We aim to get as many of our organic products from the UK as we possibly can but in some cases, where it is simply not possible to source the quantity and quality we need to supply our 350+ shops, we go abroad for these products rather than not offer an organic choice to our customers.”
“We hope that through the sale of our Waitrose Duchy Organic products we can encourage more British farmers to consider organic production while also giving opportunities to organic farmers abroad. There will of course always be things, such as oranges, that will need to come from our trusted organic suppliers overseas.”
The NFU has also challenged Waitrose on the use of the Princes Countryside Fund logo on imported apples. The Princes Countryside Fund asks shoppers to celebrate the best of British food and drink by purchasing products bearing the logo. Waitrose are looking in to this.