After watching the price of her favorite bread rising too quickly, Michele Shores decided it was time for a fresh approach.

Photos by AL BEHRMAN/The Associated Press

Lynne Warren pulls a pizza from an oven in the deli of a Kroger store in Cincinnati. More Americans are switching to store brands, including upper-income consumers trying to shave their grocery bills.

She began picking up store-brand breads, Kroger Co.'s namesake brand or Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Great Value, when her usual bread went from $2 to $3 a loaf. Less than half the price, and not half bad.

"My husband takes his lunch to work, and we all eat a lot of sandwiches here," said the 30-year-old mother of two from Atlanta. "So that's a lot of money for us."

Photos by AL BEHRMAN/The Associated Press

Kroger touts its own premium peanut butter cookies. The chain carries three levels of store brands.

As budgets get tighter and food gets more expensive, American shoppers are increasingly switching to store brands – even upper-income consumers who may not have been inclined to give them a try before.

The nation's biggest grocers, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Supervalu Inc. and Safeway Inc., all report that sales of their own brands are jumping as customers can't stop regularly buying food and household items but need to reduce spending.

"There are things we can do to drive less, but how do you eat less? You don't," said Erin Frehner, a Brigham Young University senior.

Ms. Frehner said she and her husband, both full-time students with part-time jobs, try to get the store brand unless they strongly prefer the national brand or if the price is almost the same.

The Food Marketing Institute, an industry trade group, found this year that the number of shoppers who say they are buying more store-brand items has been steadily rising, now up to about 60 percent.

And stores have been pushing their own brands in areas such as dairy products, meats and breads where prices have risen especially fast, and they're also tapping into demand for organics and natural foods.

"Store brands have come a long way," said Tod Marks, a senior editor at Consumer Reports, which has tested store brands against national brands for quality and customer response. "Over the years, retailers realized that store brands were not just something to be floated out during hard times. ... 'This is a signature product of ours. We want to be known for this.' "

Stores generally reap better profit margins by selling their own brands – also called corporate brands, private labels or generics – and also use them to build customer loyalty.

"All of us are creatures of habit, and when things are going well, you just buy what you bought last week," said Kroger's vice chairman, Rodney McMullen. "Customers are much more willing to try a corporate brand when the economy gets tough. And when we can get the customer to try it, they like it."

Ms. Shores has been buying more store-brand diapers, costing about 30 percent to 40 percent less, but sticks with Procter & Gamble Co.'s Pampers for use at night for their absorbency.

She tried store-brand spaghetti sauce, then went back to Prego, a Campbell Soup Co. product that she says is thicker. But she doesn't taste much difference in the store versions of canned vegetables and many other weekly grocery items.

"For oatmeal, there's almost a $2 price difference," she said. "That adds up."

Surveys have shown that most people were highly satisfied with most store brands, Mr. Marks said, and testing found many of them held their own against the national brands. In some cases, he said, consumers must decide whether "good enough" at a lower price is better than buying a national brand.

"Some stores do it better than others," said Sonya Redwine, 35, of Knoxville, Tenn., who usually steers her shopping cart toward store brands. "Just because it's a store brand doesn't mean it's not the best for your family."

Trying to capitalize on what Safeway chief executive Steve Burd recently called "an extraordinary shift," stores are offering more new products and increasing their marketing.

Safeway, the parent company of Tom Thumb, launched the O Organics line two years ago. It has been so successful that the company has licensed it for sale by other retailers.

Supervalu's chief executive, Jeff Noddle, said this month that the Wild Harvest natural/organic line that hit shelves in April has been "our most successful product launch ever."

Wal-Mart, which says sales of some private-label categories are up 40 percent this year, is rolling out All Natural ice cream, featuring such flavors as blueberry pomegranate.

Kroger has new lines of steaks, bread and pizzas as well as more organic items. In the past five years, the company has nearly doubled to 14,000 the number of store-brand products it offers.

It also gives free samples and runs blind taste tests against national brands in its stores, and has increased direct mailings to regular customers with coupons and recipe ideas for its brands.

Like other chains, Kroger now uses a tiered approach, offering a sharply discounted Value brand, its namesake store brands and what it calls premium brands such as Private Selection. Kroger says it puts that label only on products that meet or exceed the leading national brand in quality.

Dan Sewell,

The Associated Press