CHICAGO — Supervalu Inc., the third-largest U.S. grocery-store chain, said Friday it’s seeing a jump in sales of Hostess Brands items as the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder bread liquidates and fires workers.

‘‘We are definitely seeing an increase in customers purchasing Hostess products and expect this will continue as news about the company spreads,’’ Mike Siemienas, a spokesman for Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu, said in an interview. Hostess delivers its food directly to stores, so there is no inventory in Supervalu warehouses, he said.