Bread Wars - Food For Thought

There's nothing quite as thoroughly British as a loaf of Hovis is there? Well, what their iconic "we went to't shops me Mam and me" TV ads didn't point out was that a large percentage of the 1.4 MMT of wheat Rank Hovis mills every year is imported from Canada.

Whilst you or I probably realised that, your average housewife in the queue at Tesco's probably didn't have a clue did she? So full was her head of shoes, Sean Bean's six pack and whether to vote for Jedward again this Saturday.

Premier Foods-owned Hovis has an estimated 26% of the UK bread market, putting it second in the market to only Warburton's with 30%.

How significant is it then that Hovis say that they are about to switch from being heavily reliant on Canadian wheat, to going 100% British across it's entire range after successful trials growing Canadian red wheat here?

Keen not to be caught napping by the competition, Wharburton's have also just announced that they will be launching a 100% all-British loaf by March 2010.

British cereal growers will be fancying a slice of that action.