Supervalu debuts Wild Harvest organic/natural brand

(Recasts; adds details on Wild Harvest, background, stock activity; previous NEW YORK)

LOS ANGELES, April 9 (Reuters) - Grocery store operator Supervalu Inc (SVU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Wednesday unveiled a new line of organic and natural foods, responding to consumer demand and growing competition.

The Wild Harvest line will debut with about 150 products such as milk, eggs, pasta, cereal and fresh produce and is eventually expected to include 250 to 300 items, the company said.

Wild Harvest products will cost about 15 percent less than brand name organic and natural products and are "positioned to meet or beat competitors' private-label organic prices," Supervalu said.

The products will be available this month in company stores, which include Acme, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Lucky and Shop 'n Save.

The move comes as cash-strapped consumers, who are already juggling higher gasoline prices and falling home values, turn to less expensive store-brand products in an effort to save money.

Supervalu in February shuttered its new Sunflower Market organic and natural foods stores, citing their failure to deliver acceptable returns.

The chain had three Sunflower Markets in Columbus, Ohio, and one each in Chicago and Indianapolis.

The stores were designed to compete with Whole Foods Market Inc (WFMI.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which boosted its presence in the natural/organic segment with last year's purchase of Wild Oats Markets Inc.

Shares in Supervalu were trading up 19 cents at $30.83 at midday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein and Aarthi Sivaraman; Editing by Brian Moss)