Mr Kipling maker to lift prices as input costs soar

MR Kipling cakes firm Premier Foods has said it is raising prices in the face of soaring costs in the latest sign of mounting pressure on household food bills.

The group, which also owns brands such as

Oxo cubes, Sharwoods and Ambrosia, said the Ukraine war was pushing up prices of many of its ingredients, including wheat and dairy, while fuel and energy costs are also rocketing.

The warning comes as official figures yesterday showed inflation hit a 40-year high of 9 per cent in April – and it is expected to soar past 10% later in the year.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey sparked further fears earlier this week, issuing an “apocalyptic” warning about rising food prices.

Premier Foods boss Alex Whitehouse said the group raised prices after seeing a “high single digits” increase in costs in its year to April and is expecting to ramp them up again as it braces for a further “low double-digit” rise in costs over the year ahead. He said the rises would be spread across its brands, though it is also launching cost efficiency programmes to try and tackle surging inflation.

Mr Whitehouse said: “Food inflation is pretty significant and for some families that’s going to be really tough.”

He pledged the group would “work really hard to offset as much of the inflation pressures as we can and help people as best we can by trying to keep prices down”.

Details of the price rise plans came as the group said pre-tax profits jumped 16.4% to a higher than expected £102.6 million.