Wilmar International must be thanking its lucky stars it didn’t bite when CLSA and Macquarie Bank put together a group of investors and offered to buy the Singapore edible oils group’s 10.1 per cent stake in Goodman Fielder a few months ago.

Goodman Fielder shares rose 7.7 per cent on Wednesday to 77¢, their highest level for 18 months, spurred by a report in The Australian Financial Review that rival baker George Weston had won a 35¢ a loaf price rise for its private label contract with Woolworths earlier this year. The wholesale price rise has enabled George Weston to offset rising costs and boost margins.