The firm, which is home to brands such as Mr Kipling, Batchelors and McDougalls, has partnered with wheat supplier Bartholomews to back an agriculture trial on 165 acres of arable land in southern England. The trial is particularly focused on the use of low carbon fertiliser, which is created using renewable energy.
It’s designed to provide a more controlled release of nutrients and is coupled with precision application technology so less fertiliser is needed overall, reducing the carbon footprint of the products grown.
Gareth Pullan, director of procurement at Premier Foods, said: “As well as selling flour under our McDougalls and Be-Ro brands, we use flour in around half of all the products we make, so helping British farmers transition to lower carbon wheat is an essential part of our ambitions to reduce the environmental impact of our business.
“This trial is only the beginning. Our longer-term intention is to take the learnings from this trial to understand how we can support the wider adoption of lower carbon farming across more of the farms growing wheat and other crops across our supply chain.
“We’re also committed to contributing to the efforts of the wider food industry as we all progress towards net zero and working collaboratively with our supplier partners will be a crucial part in this journey.”