Premier Foods ditches £75m bread contract and launches Hovis review Premier, Britain's largest food producer and owner of brands such as Hovis bread, Mr Kipling cakes, and Loyd Grossman sauces, said it would be "unable" to renew the contract to supply a supermarket with its own-brand bread when it expires in mid-2013. Premier is reviewing the future of its bread division - which includes milling, baking, and owns brands such as Hovis, but is under pressure from rising wheat prices and fierce competition. This could lead to a sale of Hovis. "We have a road map but we are not willing to share it yet," Mr Clarke added. Everything is on the table. Last year Tesco pulled some lines of Hovis bread from its shops after a row over pricing, while Northern Foods has also dropped unprofitable supermarket contracts. Mr Clarke pledged that Premier "will not go chasing volume for volume stake" in the bread market. The company has already raised £275m in the second half of the year from selling businesses such as its Hartley's jam and jelly division. The disposals have cut Premier's debt mountain by 22pc to £1.27bn and increased its focus on a collection of "power brands" such as Ambrosia and Oxo. In a third-quarter trading update, Premier said its sales rose 2pc to £365m. The company also said it planned to cut a further £20m of costs. Mr Clarke said: "We intend to build on this progress as we continue to drive momentum behind our grocery power brands particularly through capturing opportunities in the growing convenient meals and snacking segments." The shares rose 4¾ - 6pc - to 83½p.