Premier Foods is renewing its focus on innovation and has gained market share in grocery, bread and chilled products, said Robert Schofield, the chief executive, as the group reported a first-half loss of £35.9m.

“Own-label is not winning in the food market,” Mr Schofield said, adding Premier’s brands had gained 1.6 per cent of share overall in the year to early June while retailers’ own-label brands had fallen by 0.7 per cent. “We’re back to investing in our brands.”