Tesco has dropped 12 Hovis lines after a spat with the brand’s owner, Premier Foods, over pricing.

Premier asked Tesco to increase the price of Hovis because of the increase in wheat prices, the Daily Telegraph reported. Tesco rejected the request and has delisted 12 out of 19 Hovis lines.

Neither company was prepared to comment directly on the dispute, but a Premier Foods spokesman said: “The record rise in the price of wheat earlier this year was widely reported. The scale of this rise made it necessary for price increases to be passed on to retailers. While we don’t comment on our agreements with individual retailers, we can say that we continue to supply Hovis to Tesco and they remain one of our most important customers.”

According to British Retail Consortium figures, food inflation hit a 15-month high in September, with prices rising by 4%.

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