Neil Stansfield, aged 51, of Poets Way, Newnham, regularly told his staff to dispose of supermarket wrapping from pork pies and chickens, Northampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

The food had been bought from non-organic sources including Tesco and Waitrose by his firm, Daventry-based Onefood – which stood for Organic, Natural and Ethical.

The court heard that non-organic pork pies were bought from award-winning butchers Sauls of Spratton, repackaged and shipped off to the London fine foods store Fortnum & Mason, which supplies the Royal Family, including the Queen.

In court with Stansfield were his wife Kate, aged 44, and their operations manager, 40-year-old Russell Hudson of Admirals Way, Daventry.

Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, said Neil Stansfield was the "prime mover in the subterfuge" which continued for six years and could have garnered the company as much as £500,000 in increased profits.

He said: "Staff said Neil Stansfield was making two to three trips to Tesco and Waitrose each day. He was able to exploit the premium prices that are attached to organic food. A significant amount of marketing and advertising of this company stressed its ethical standpoint."

Mr Lowe said invoices were faked from organic suppliers, non-organic chickens were entered into the company's books as game – which cannot be certified organic – and other purchases were listed as "non stock" so that the company could evade scrutiny the Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd.

They were caught after a test purchase operation where Trading Standards officers bought an "organic" salmon from Onefood, at a price of £51. They discovered it had actually been bought from Waitrose the day before for just £20. Sauls' pork pies were marked up from £1.30 to £2.50.

The court was told the operation, carried out just months before the company went into liquidation in 2008, had cost Northamptonshire County Council at least £60,000.

Judge Richard Bray commended Trading Standards for their "thorough" investigation, and jailed Neil Stansfield for 27 months while disqualifying him from working as a company director for six years.

Kate Stansfield was sentenced to 50 weeks jail suspended for two years and banned from being a director for three years, while Hudson was given a 40-week jail sentence suspended for two years. Both were ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Bray said: "I have to sentence you for fraudulent trading. You were involved in the running of a company which was persistently and deliberately involved in marketing 'organic' food in order to exploit the premium profits."