Waitrose has fired a broadside at its rival supermarkets over their use of celebrities in ad campaigns.

The chain said it would not use celebrities in its ads, which would continue to focus on its partners.

Speaking at the first meeting of the new Waitrose Council, commercial director Richard Hodgson highlighted some of the "disasters" its competitors had experienced with celebrity marketing.

Many of its rivals have recently been embarrassed by celebs paid to promote their wares. In January, Jamie Oliver criticised Sainsbury's for not participating in a TV programme investigating poultry welfare, while his wife was previously photographed shopping at Tesco.

Prunella Scales turned on Tesco and became a campaigner for independents while Iceland's celeb Kerry Katona has been the subject of lurid tabloid headlines. "At Waitrose the partners are the celebrities and the real stars of the partnership," said Hodgson.

n Waitrose is still without own label pasta, which ran out last week. As The Grocer went to press a spokeswoman said it was "working to get own-label pasta back on to our shelves. In the meantime we have sourced additional branded lines."

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