The country's biggest baker has called for a truce in the supermarket bread wars.
Earnings in producer Goodman Fielder's baking business, which includes the Helga's, Wonder White, Lawson's and Vogel's brands, more than halved in the six months to December.
Retailers are too often heavily discounting the price of fresh bread, the company said, and that is lowering the price they are prepared to pay the baker.
Half price sales on fresh bread "almost every other week" are resulting in brand and store disloyalty as consumers shop around, chief executive Chris Delaney said.
"The consumer doesn't know what the real price of bread is any more," he said.
Instead of heavy discounts, to as low as 85 cents a loaf, retailers should establish a less volatile "everyday low price", Mr Delaney said.
If they spent less on promoting bread discounts they could afford a slightly higher everyday low price, which would make consumers' spending patterns more regular.
For example, consumers would normally pay between $5.49 and $5.79 for a loaf of Helga's bread, but under heavy discounting, that price can be as low as $3.00.
Under low everyday pricing, consumers would pay $3.50, but get that price every single day.
That would lower costs and improve the ability of suppliers such as Goodman Fielder to ensure that consumers' desired brands were on supermarket shelves when they wanted them, Mr Delaney said.
Goodman Fielder would prefer to see its brands compete on quality and freshness, instead of who can run the most half price bread sales, Mr Delaney said.
The company's baking division increased its market share in the fresh loaf category but its net average selling price to retailers fell from $2.11 to $2.04 per loaf, wiping $15 million from its bottom line.
Despite weakness in its largest division, Goodman Fielder returned to profit in the first half of the 2014/15 financial year, to $28.6 million.
Earnings in its New Zealand dairy business recovered as the farmgate milk price - a key cost factor - fell from its record high in the prior year.
Goodman Fielder shares gained half a cent to 65 cents.
GOODMAN FIELDER RETURNS TO PROFIT
* Net profit of $28.6m, up from a loss of $64.8m in 2013/14
* Revenue of $1.07b, down six pct from $1.13b
* No interim dividend, down from one cent per share
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