Supervalu, the third-largest U.S. food retailer by sales after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Kroger Co., announced the brand's launch Wednesday.

It will initially carry about 150 items, including milk, eggs, fresh produce, pasta and cereal. Supervalu eventually plans to sell 250 to 300 items under the Wild Harvest label.

The Eden Prairie, Minn., retailer, which owns chains such as Acme, Jewel-Osco, Lucky and Shaw's, said the new products will cost about 15% less than similar name-brand organic items. Products will hit store shelves across the U.S. next week.

Supervalu aims to meet the growing consumer demand for organic foods and to keep shoppers from turning elsewhere for such goods. Company surveys showed that shoppers in several markets, including Chicago and Boston, often did the bulk of their shopping at a Supervalu-owned store but visited a Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe's for organic and natural items. "We want to keep them in our stores and get those additional dollars," said Adam Graham, brand manager for Wild Harvest.

The company trails other conventional grocers in launching an organics line, but its selection will be among the largest. Safeway Inc. has had success with its O Organics brand, begun in late 2005, while Kroger last August introduced an expanded array of organic products under its Private Selection label.

The grocers' moves are in part a response to the rapid growth of Whole Foods Market Inc., the nation's largest natural-foods grocer.

Supervalu, with annual sales of about $44 billion, is rolling out Wild Harvest as part of a broader strategy by Chief Executive Jeff Noddle to make the company's stores more contemporary. The strategy, which includes remodeling hundreds of locations, follows Supervalu's acquisition in June 2006 of 1,100 outlets formerly owned by Albertson's Inc.

Mr. Noddle's plans include boosting sales of store brands. Such brands, which generate higher profit margins for grocers, account for about 15% of the company's retail sales, compared with as much as 25% at other traditional chains.

Supervalu wants to increase its figure to 17% during the fiscal year that starts next March, and eventually to 20%, Mr. Noddle said recently.

So-called private-label groceries are an attractive option for U.S. consumers at a time of rising food prices and a slumping economy. Last year, 19% of all sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages in U.S. food, drug and mass-merchandise outlets were of house brands, up from 18.2% in 2006, according to research firm Nielsen Co.

Mr. Graham said Supervalu intends to distinguish Wild Harvest from other grocers' store brands by offering a greater variety of goods that are on the "perimeter" of the store, including organic produce. Packaged goods include wheat crackers and banana walnut granola.

Sales of food and non-alcoholic beverage products with labels claiming they're organic or natural -- both store and name brands -- rose 26% last year to $4.1 billion at U.S. food, drug and mass-merchant outlets, excluding Wal-Mart, according to Nielsen.