Waitrose has removed all Warburtons products from its shelves, according to reports. The supermarket, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, has been reported in The Telegraph as saying the crumpet maker's "performance didn’t meet expectations".
Warburtons has countered that "quality is paramount" and that it has put "an awful lot of care" into the products its bakes.
Waitrose said: "We stopped selling Warburtons products a year ago after their performance didn’t meet our expectations. We focus on fantastic products at great value that our customers love and we remain open to working with Warburtons in the future."
The baker said in a statement: "At Warburtons, quality is paramount. We put an awful lot of care into the two million products we bake and deliver to over 19,000 stores across the country every single day.
"We know that consumers recognise the quality, and value of our products and that is why we are the number one bakery brand in the UK. It is a shame that Waitrose chose to delist us last year and we would of course love to be back on their shelves in the future."
In July, BusinessLive reported how a rise in costs to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic and overcome a major delivery driver shortage hit profits at Warburtons during its latest financial year. The family-owned business posted pre-tax profits of £15.2m for the 12 months to September 25, 2021, compared to the £23.6m it achieved during the prior year.
The company, which is led by the fifth generation of the Warburton family, also reported a turnover of £567.9m, up from £556m.
