The cost of a loaf of bread has increased again as bakers struggle to cope with the escalating price of wheat.

Premier Foods, which makes Hovis bread, said this morning it had been forced to hike the price of a loaf at the end of October, its second price increase in as many months.

The company blamed "the unprecedented increase in wheat costs during the summer", which has eaten into its profits.

The latest set of retail prices from the Grocer show that many retailers have passed this increase straight on to consumers. The magazine found that Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury's all put up the price of a Hovis white loaf from £1.04 to £1.12 last week.

Premier added that other bread makers had taken longer to raise their retail prices, resulting in a drop in Hovis sales and profits over the past two months.

The price of a bushel of wheat has soared this year, hitting an all-time high of $8 in September. Stocks worldwide are dwindling as a combination of droughts and floods affected production.

Many other foods are also under pricing pressure, with dairy products hit by rising milk prices.

The beer industry has suffered a 100% increase in the price of malt, while the cost of the aluminium used to produce beer cans has risen by a third this year. Coors Brewers reportedly said last week that a pack of four cans of lager will rise by 70p in 2008.

And in a blow to fans of takeaway meals, Domino's Pizza has warned that mozzarella cheese is now 50% more expensive.

The scale of rising prices in the UK was underlined this morning by the factory output prices. They increased by 0.6% in October, much more than analysts expected, largely driven by food and oil.

Premier Foods reported increased sales at its other divisions and predicted that the recent acquisitions of RHM and Campbell's would add about £17m to trading profits in the current financial year.

Shares in Premier Foods were up 4% in morning trading, gaining 8.25p to 211.25p.