Poor harvests force Hovis to turn to EU grain Hovis, one of the UK's top-selling breads, is to abandon its pledge to use only British wheat in its loaves following rain-blighted harvests. Hovis will start using EU grain from this weekend. The move is another blow for UK farmers, who are already reeling from the relentless rains that made 2012 the second wettest year on record and caused £1.3bn in agricultural damage. It also marks a big U-turn for Premier Foods, manufacturer of Hovis, which has trumpeted its commitment to domestic farmers. Before last year's Olympics, Mike Clarke, chief executive, urged consumers to support the sickly home economy by buying British. Traditionally one of the biggest buyers of British produce, Premier Foods will instead slash its UK wheat buying by about a third this year, from more than 1m tonnes to 660,0000. The remainder will come mainly from northern Europe and a small amount from Canada. The company said, however, that it remained committed to buying British. "It's not a decision we have taken lightly," said Mark Hughes, group procurement director. Premier Foods spent £1.3bn on produce last year, of which 82 per cent went to British growers and suppliers. We have got iconic British brands. We are a UK manufacturing business. So it helps our supply chain and gives us better relationships with suppliers," Mr Hughes added. The UK's wheat yield fell by 14 per cent last year, according to the National Farmers Union. As a result, the country's wheat imports are forecast to more than double to 2m tonnes. Since 2011 the price of bread has risen by 4.3 per cent, ahead of the 3.7 per cent rate for general food inflation. Hovis has a 23 per cent share of the UK bread market, according to Nielsen, behind family-owned Warburton but ahead of Kingsmill, part of Associated British Foods. Wm Morrison, the UK's fourth biggest supermarket and another stalwart supporter of British agriculture, also recently began to source meat from Europe to give cash-strapped consumers cheaper options for the dinner table. The British bread industry is in turmoil. On top of higher wheat prices, it is having to contend with Brits" diminishing appetite for sliced loaves and aggressive supermarkets loath to pass on price rises to shoppers already feeling the pinch from higher living costs and reduced welfare benefits. The UK's biggest bakers succeeded in pushing price rises through late last year, but analysts reckon they will not be able to repeat this. Premier Foods" other products include Mr Kipling cakes, Ambrosia rice and Bisto gravy granules. It has been engaged in a big disposal programme as part of efforts to repay debt, most recently selling Branston Pickles to a Japanese company. The company does not envisage any radical changes to its advertising and marketing programmes but will have to remove its claim to have 100 per cent British wheat from its packaging. The move will initially affect just a few of the roughly 60 different Hovis lines, with the rest gradually switching to non-British wheat over the month. Premier Foods sold more than 500m loaves of bread last year, most of which were Hovis branded. Additional reporting by Kate Allen Fewer Union flags may be represented on supermarket shelves if other food producers and retailers follow Premier Foods, the maker of Hovis bread, and ditch the "Buy British" brand marketing to cut costs, write Hannah Kuchler and Sarah Dawkins. William Morrison, the UK's fourth biggest supermarket, has already begun sourcing cheaper meat from Europe despite having made a virtue of supporting British farmers, from whom it previously sourced all of its meat. Cash-strapped consumers are reluctant to spend more on British products despite calls from politicians such as London mayor Boris Johnson and Owen Paterson, environment secretary, to support the domestic economy. Grocery budgets this year will be as tight, if not tighter, than in 2012 as the economy flatlines and benefit cuts begin to bite, said Neil Saunders, managing director of Conlumino, the retail analysts. "Retailers like to use "Buy British" as a nice, ethical and patriotic message but at the end of the day, it is not a message that, as far as the consumer is concerned, trumps price," he said. But companies are likely to let the Buy British message, which is also seen to denote quality, slip away with little fanfare as they may be concerned about looking "hypocritical," Mr Saunders added. Martin Deboo, an analyst at Investec, said food producers would have to reconsider making claims about where their food came from, or see their profits suffer as prices rise. "They will have to think long and hard about trade-offs between sole provenance claims and the need for diverse sources and supply," he said. However, it is not clear that using only British wheat helped Hovis sell more loaves, he added. I'm not convinced the British wheat claim helped in particular. It is not clear there's a huge marketing advantage, as it came at the time of a lot of other changes: higher profile TV ads, repackaging and reformulating.