ASA Adjudication on Wealden Bakery
Wealden Bakery
38 Eastbourne Road
London
SW17 9EG
Date:
17 October 2012
Media:
Internet (on own site)
Sector:
Food and drink
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A12-200156
Ad
Claims on www.wealdenbakery.co.uk, for a wholesale bakery, featured text on the home page which stated "Wealden Bakery Country bakers at the heart of the city". The link clicked though to a page which stated "Country bakers at the heart of the city Wealden Bakery. Wealden Bakery - The Wholesale Bakery with a difference. Thanks for visiting! Wealden bakery is a wholesale bakery focused on providing a high-quality service and customer satisfaction whilst supplying you with great products at a competitive price - we will do everything we can to meet your expectations".
The "About Us" page of the website featured an image of a man baking products in a commercial oven, and an image of a person kneading dough.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the Wealden Bakery baked their own products, because they understood they were distributors who did not produce their own products.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
Wealden Bakery said they were a wholesale bakery who supplied only to retailers. They explained that they bought in bulk from a manufacturer and then distributed those products to retailers. They believed the website made that clear and did not imply that they manufactured their own products. They also pointed out that they worked with a number of baking houses to create bespoke products for their customers. They argued that a number of organisations who operated in the same manner as themselves were referred to as bakeries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that Wealden Bakery had amended the pictures which showed products being baked and had removed the references to 'Country bakers at the heart of the city'. However, we noted the ad made repeated references to the 'Wealden Bakery' as a 'wholesale bakery'. Whilst we acknowledged Wealden Bakery's belief that a number of organisations who operated in the same manner as themselves were referred to as bakeries, we understood that a number of wholesale bakeries also baked and distributed their own products. In that context, we considered consumers were likely to understand the ad to mean that Wealden Bakery baked and distributed their own products. Because they did not, we concluded that the ad was misleading and breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the Wealden Bakery to ensure claims were not likely to mislead in future.
