“I’ve realised I can’t help in the way it needs, and the right thing is to be honest about that.
“I wish the team well, there are good people there working hard to get it right.
“Back to the work I’ve always done. Thank you to everyone who backed me.”
Letele revealed he had received death threats and had his address leaked after his decision to take over as boss.
He said his family had been affected by the online threats.
“I’ve taken on a company that has f***ed up and it’s my job to come fix it and make it better than before,” he previously told the Herald.
“I understand people are upset and what’s happened before my time. But this behaviour online, the death threats and posting of addresses is going too far. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
David Letele has quit as chief executive of supplement retailer NZ Muscle after a week. Photo / @nzmuscle
Last month, NZ Muscle removed products from sale and apologised to customers after an internal review identified several whey protein and creatine products had been packed in “non-compliant” packaging, and two protein products had been “relabelled inappropriately”.
Several creatine products were later recalled over an undeclared milk allergen amid an ongoing investigation by New Zealand Food Safety, part of the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Roosenbrand took ownership of the issues in a video posted to social media last week.
“Over the past few weeks, we identified problems with how we operate in not having council compliance, and that’s on me,” he said.
“We made mistakes, we recalled product, and isolated any product with potential risk.
“I’m truly sorry to our customers, staff, partners, and suppliers who have all been affected by this.”
Letele was announced as the new chief executive in the same video.
The 46-year-old had admitted he was reluctant to take on the leadership of the troubled company but was determined to “do what’s right” and to earn back the trust of customers.
Late last week, he said he was still working to “rebuild” the company despite intense online backlash.
“I’m at a loss, but I won’t quit,” he said.