Waitrose Duchy Organic estate and the first product was oaten biscuits. Products were initially sold through high-end stores such as Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. During the 1990s Duchy Originals products began being stocked in farm shops and independent delicatessens and expansion during the 2000s saw a selected range of Duchy Originals products becoming widely available in most major UK supermarkets, with Waitrose as the brand's largest customer. By 2008 sales of Duchy Originals had raised over £7 million cumulatively for The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation. Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008 the Duchy Originals business began making losses, amounting to around
Waitrose Duchy Organic savoury pastry products. The venture suffered financial problems, with the factory making a loss of £447,158 in the financial year 2006/7. In 2009 the Duchy Originals company decided to sell the bakery, with one-off costs from the sale contributing towards Duchy Originals making a loss for 2009-10. In 2008 Duchy Originals partnered with the alternative medicine company Nelsons to produce a line of herbal remedies. This led to controversy, in which leading UK scientists said that Duchy Originals promoted its herbal remedies with scientifically unsound claims. Edzard Ernst, the UK's first professor of complementary medicine, said Duchy Originals detox products