Crunch slims Charles' royal biscuits

Prince Charles' organic food range is being streamlined. Photo / AP

LONDON - Economy getting you down?

Take it easy with a nice cup of tea and a slow-baked oaten biscuit laced with golden toffee, dunked in organic milk chocolate.

Not just any biscuit, of course. Royal biscuits from the Prince of Wales's food brand, Duchy Originals.

But there is a "biscuit crunch" going on. Duchy Originals' chief executive, Andrew Baker, has shrunk the packet size (from 16 to 10) to make it more affordable.

"It is a difficult time for premium brands and it turns out 2 ($5.70) is an important psychological barrier when someone is buying a pack of biscuits, and this brings us more in line with our competitors," he says.

"Also, many of our customers are empty-nesters, so packs of 16 were probably too big anyway."

The initiative is part of a radical restructuring devised by Baker, with Prince Charles's blessing, since taking the helm in September 2007.

He has almost halved the number of products to 170 - a streamlining aimed at making the range more commercial but at the same time rekindling its campaigning past.

The former Cadbury Schweppes executive says the Duchy range - made with produce from the royal estates at Highgrove, Sandringham and Balmoral - had become unwieldy, and customers were confused by 50 varieties of chocolate and four types of cheese nibble.

He decided to focus on four main areas - biscuits, preserves, bakery and pork products, which generate 80 per cent of profits.

The brand is sold in big supermarket chains and hundreds of independents, and profits go to the prince's charities.

"The Duchy message had become diluted," says Baker. "We had gone from being an activist brand in favour of organic agriculture to a slightly 'me-too' premium brand. We plan to target activist consumers more specifically - shoppers who make decisions based on criteria other than price, like animal welfare and local communities."

Named after the Duchy of Cornwall estates, which are held in trust by Charles, the company was started in 1990.

Last year proved to be one of its most difficult as soaring ingredient and input costs, such as organic feed, compounded by the cost of the restructuring, almost wiped out profits.

"This was a business that grew very quickly up to a point, but the environment has changed significantly," he says.

"The retail environment became incredibly focused on basic foods and tertiary [ultra-low-price] brands. But there is no doubt in my mind that we can make Duchy very profitable in the years to come."

The recession has opened up a divide, with sales of organic produce falling as consumers trade down to cheaper free-range or supermarket own-brand alternatives.

Critics have described the movement as a preoccupation of the rich.

"It is not just landed gentry - it consists of people who are deeply concerned about the mess we have made of our environment," says Baker. "If you break the organic market down, it's about local sourcing, chemical-free production and rural communities - issues that are important to many people."

He agrees with Charles's stance on GM: "I have never seen any evidence that crop yields improve with GM."

At present, just 4 per cent of UK farming is organic. Baker hopes that other brands and groups such as the Soil Association will work more closely together in the future to create a more powerful lobby. "We aren't very good at promoting the benefits of organic," he says.

He is also frustrated by the power of supermarkets to shape consumer choice and by the way Duchy has been squeezed off the shelves for cheaper, faster-selling lines.

"The only message being communicated is price, and soon that is all consumers will care about," he says.

Baker says profits will not recover until next year.

Price may not be the only obstacle the company must overcome.

How does Baker persuade the royal family's detractors to buy Duchy food? "Whether you are a royalist or a republican, we have great products and all the profits go to charity."

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