PREMIER Foods has agreed to sell its tea business, including its flagship Typhoo brand, to Indian conglomerate Apeejay Surrendra Group for £80m.

The British food maker, which owns Quorn maker Marlow Foods, in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, said it would use the proceeds to reduce its debts. Chief executive Robert Schofield said: "Our strategy is to drive growth through the active management of our brand portfolio focusing on those brands with leading market positions."

Typhoo has an estimated ten per cent share of the British tea market, lagging behind Unilever's PG Tips and Tata Tea's Tetley, both of which command 20 per cent market shares.

With British tea sales falling by about one per cent a year, Mr Schofield said he wanted to focus on the rest of the company's English brands, which include Branston Pickle, Gale's honey and Bird's custard,

Last month, Premier posted a near ten per cent rise in first-half operating profits to £42.8m, despite group sales falling 3.9 per cent to £409m. The rise in profits was attributed to lower potato prices.

Apeejay will take over Premier's tea business, which includes London Fruit and Herb, Lift and QT. It will also take on Typhoo's tea blending and packing facility, which employs 250 people at Moreton, Wirral.

Apeejay, which was founded in 1910, is India's third-largest exporter of tea and already sells three of its single estate teas in Harrods and premium tea boutiques across the world.