// Warburtons vows to return to Waitrose’s shelves after being removed last year over performance
// The bakery said it would be “just a matter of time” before the supermarket stocked its products again
Warburtons has pledged to return to Waitrose’s shelves after a row that broke out over the crumpet maker’s performance.
Waitrose stopped selling Warburtons products last year after the brand’s performance “didn’t meet expectations”.
The bakery’s executive chairman Jonathan Warburton said at the time that the removal of his products from Waitrose’s shelves was “a shame”.
He said it would be “just a matter of time” before the supermarket chain stocked its products again as the pair remain in discussions.
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“At the moment we’re agreeing to disagree,” Warburton said. “I think it would be in both businesses’ benefit to find a solution.”
Waitrose crumpet sales had fallen by 15% over the last year, according to a source. This is in stark with the wider crumpet market, which is growing 10% by value.
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.”
Warburton said his relationship with the supermarket has been friendly since the row broke out.
Warburtons has 11 factories across the UK and employs around 5,000 people, producing roughly 780m products a year, including 420m loaves of bread and 100m packs of crumpets.
