Prince's food company posts £3.2m losses

Duchy Originals suffered as consumers turned away from sustainable produce during the recession.

Last September, the firm announced a joint venture with Waitrose, but strenuously denied it was effectively a bail-out.

The accounts reveal the true extent of the financial position of the company, which posted a turnover of 2.2m for the 12 months to March 31 2009, down almost half on the previous financial year's total of 4m.

But the company had expenses of 5.5m, which after profits were deducted meant a loss of 3,271,000.