After more than two years of being banned from Waitrose shelves, the beloved Warburtons crumpets have made their way back. Waitrose is now back to selling a selection of the brand’s products years after they disappeared from the supermarket’s shelves. The supermarket chain had stopped selling Warburtons’ products following a commercial dispute back in 2022 concerning the price of the crumpets and other items.
Jonathan Warburton, the chairman of Warburtons, told The Telegraph:”It’s been something that we’ve been quietly working away with Waitrose on for some time. “We obviously thought [removing the products] was a mistake, but we’re chuffed to bits to be back in and they’ve been very supportive.”
He added that he was ‘delighted’ to be selling the crumpets in Waitrose again.
Warburtons crumpets are a British favourite, with over 700 million delicious crumpets baked each year.
The return follows a leadership change at Waitrose’s parent company, the John Lewis Partnership, with new chairman Jason Tarry.
A Waitrose spokesperson told The Telegraph: “We’re very pleased to toast the return of Warburtons crumpets and we know that our customers hole-heartedly welcome the fact that they’re back.”
Waitrose stated at the time that the crumpet and bread maker’s performance “didn’t meet expectations,” The Telegraph reported.
This meant that Waitrose was the only major supermarket chain that did not sell the Warburtons items.
Waitrose had said it still remained open to future collaboration with Warburtons.
In response, Warburtons highlighted their commitment to quality, producing two million products daily across 19,000 stores and said it was “a shame that Waitrose chose to delist” the brand and that they would “love” to return to Waitrose’s shelves in the future.
