News

Duchy Originals from Waitrose – new range features new products from Scotland

26 August 2010

The new Duchy Originals from Waitrose range will launch in September featuring several new products from Scottish suppliers.

Several Scottish companies including Walkers biscuits, Castle McLellan, Scarletts and Royal Deeside Mineral Water already supply the range, which is now being extended to include new products exclusive to Duchy Originals.

Duchy Originals from Waitrose products aim to preserve the UK’s food heritage and natural environment, through organically farmed produce, traditional recipes and traditional manufacture in British factories.

As well as the special occasion and gift products for which Duchy Originals has always been well regarded, the range will now include everyday eating items such as eggs, scones, muffins, fresh meat and breakfast cereals. 

Over 170 products will be introduced during August and September.  Of these, 132 are new to the brand, with others featuring improved recipes.

Another fifty lines are expected to be added by the end of the year and Waitrose eventually plans to build the range to over 400 lines. 

Commenting on the new range of Duchy Originals, Mark Price, Managing Director, Waitrose, said:

“A shared passion for the best of British organic food has motivated our suppliers and the Waitrose development team over the past 12 months and it’s fantastic to see their work coming to fruition as we launch this range.
“I’m very grateful to The Prince of Wales for entrusting Duchy Originals to Waitrose and for his continued interest in the brand that he had the vision to set up 20 years ago.

“Waitrose customers have always understood the compelling environmental and animal welfare reasons for buying organics and I’m sure they will welcome these new, delicious products.”

The launch of this range will present Waitrose customers with a significant change to the store’s organic offer: Duchy Originals will become its premium British organic offer, while Waitrose Organic will continue to consist of everyday products, sourced both from the UK and overseas. 

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For further information please contact Shaheena Abbas at Pagoda PR on 0131 556 0770 or email Shaheena.abbas@pagodapr.com

Notes for Editors
1. Duchy Originals was launched 20 years ago by HRH The Prince of Wales based on the principle of championing organic farming as a sustainable route for British agriculture.
2. In September 2009 a partnership between Waitrose and Duchy Originals was announced.  A new licensing and distribution agreement giving Waitrose (Duchy Originals’ largest and most long-standing client) the exclusive right to manufacture, distribute and sell Duchy Originals was put in place.
3. Waitrose pays a royalty on all sales and expects the investment it is making in the brand to help deliver sufficient sales growth over the next 10 years to generate a substantial increase in the amount of money going to The Prince’s Charities Foundation.  Since it was set up in 1990, Duchy Originals has raised £7million for charity.
4. All 228 branches across the UK carry a selection of products from the range, with the largest shops carrying the full range.
5. There are now 36 suppliers to new Duchy Originals from Waitrose range, 20 of which supplied the original brand.
6. Waitrose has three stores in Scotland: Byres Road in Glasgow and Comely Bank and Morningside in Edinburgh. It is due to open a new store in Newton Mearns in early 2011.

Products from Scottish suppliers

Scottish companies supplying Duchy Originals from Waitrose are Castle McLellan, Walkers, Scarletts and Royal Deeside Mineral Water.

New product: Pork paté with onion marmalade  170g £2.49
A sumptuous recipe, made by Castle McLellan,  a  specialist paté producer in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, which has been established for over 28 years and has supplied Waitrose for  27  years. The pate uses Duchy Originals from Waitrose onion marmalade by Tracklements which is made in small batches, using traditional methods, combined with pork from pigs reared on four carefully selected organic farms in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Existing product: Scottish Heather Honey 340g £3.59
Made by Scarletts, a family run company based in Perthshire, which has supplied Duchy for 11 years, the honey is gathered from hives on organically certified land within the Balmoral Estate in Scotland.

New product: Highland All Butter Shortbread Fingers 160g 14x160g £1.99     
Melt-in-the-mouth all butter shortbread biscuits made using churned British butter and flour from Maris Widgeon wheat grown on Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove.
• Highland All Butter Shortbread Petticoat Tails 125g 12x125g £1.69 
• Stem Ginger All Butter Shortbread: with chunks of crystallised Australian stem ginger150g £1.99

Upgraded product: Stem Ginger Biscuits Coated in Dark Chocolate100g £2.49
Crisp, tangy biscuits made with crystallised Australian stem ginger, churned British butter, stone-ground oats and flour from Maris Widgeon wheat grown on Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove, now upgraded with more ginger and chocolate.

Both these new products are made by Walkers, the first supplier to Duchy Originals 20 years ago. Walkers will be producing 11 biscuits for the range, including the existing products below:

Original Oaten Biscuits: delightfully crunchy biscuits are made with churned British butter and stone-ground oats harvested from Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove. 150g £1.99     

Rosemary and Thyme Oaten Biscuits: deliciously herby biscuits are made with churned British butter, stone-ground oats harvested from Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove and aromatic rosemary and thyme.

Orange Biscuits coated in Dark Chocolate: mouth-watering biscuits made with the crystallised peel of Mediterranean oranges, churned British butter, stone-ground oats and flour from Maris Widgeon wheat grown on Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove and then coated in dark chocolate. 100g £2.49 

A range of all butter shortbread biscuits made using only the finest ingredients: churned British butter and flour from Maris Widgeon wheat grown on Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove, all 150g £1.99 including:

• Sicilian Lemon All Butter Shortbread: crystallised Sicilian lemon peel selected for its zesty citrus taste.
• Highland All Butter Shortbread: rich and crumbly all butter shortbread biscuits made using the finest ingredients:
• Chocolate with Vanilla All Butter Shortbread:  using the finest Madagascan vanilla, chunks of rich dark chocolate

Existing product: Royal Deeside pure Mineral Water Still and Sparkling 750ml £0.79
Written about with affection in Queen Victoria’s Highland Journals, this pure mineral water flows through the Grampians. Bottled at source from the Upper East Spring at Pannanich Wells, Royal Deeside by Deeside Water from Ballater, who have been supplying the brand for seven years.