Bonnie Frechette of Whole Foods Markets gives a customer tour of the store at University Heights Plaza in Providence.

The Providence Journal/Bob Thayer

How are you coping with the high cost of food?

Whole Foods Market recognizes this issue and is addressing it with Shopping on a Budget tours in local stores. Armed with brochures that include tips for saving at their stores, managers go aisle to aisle with a handful of shoppers at a time to offer advice on how to save money while buying what you need.

Whole Foods Markets are known for their organic, artisan, local and high quality foods. But all those items can come at a higher cost. Those committed to eating organic and local foods have shown a willingness to pay those prices.

But now, Whole Foods seeks to expand their offerings with budget-priced items from their own 365 Everyday Value product lines which have prices lower than similarly made items. Following the blue, yellow, green and yellow flowers of the 365 logo, these items include pasta sauce for $1.99 and range up to well-priced imported extra virgin olive oils.

On a tour last week at the Providence Whole Foods University Heights store with Bonnie Frechette, marketing team leader, seven shoppers spent 90 minutes reviewing ways they could save. Take your time, look at signs and come with a list were the main messages of the tour.

It all starts at the front door, which most people simply blow by in their rush to shop, she said. There you find the sales fliers with all the sale items listed, and that should be where you stop to read.

“It seems so basic but if you are doing things like putting away your keys, you miss it,” Frechette said. Likewise, there can be coupon books there as well and other handouts like menus and recipes to make meals for four under $15.

Stocking up on sale items can be smart but only if you need them, she said. Even before arriving at the store, shoppers should review what’s in their pantry and fridge to buy only what they need. Also visit www.wholefoods.com for recipes and sign up there for the e-newsletter Fl@vors for store specials.

At Whole Foods, and indeed most markets, sale items are also noted on the shelves. In the case of seafood counters these sale notices hang above the space, so look up at Whole Foods. The store brand, Whole Catch, offers a value in frozen fish. Two portions of fish are offered in bags for easy, inexpensive meals.

“Put them in the fridge to defrost in the morning and you have them ready to cook when you get home,” Frechette said.

In the produce department, the best prices will be for the fruits and vegetables that are in season, said Frechette. That means citrus is at its best right now. Store-cut vegetables offer convenience, but if a soup starter kit ($2.99) for celery, onions and carrots will compel a shopper to create a home cooked meal, it’s a bargain.

The buy-in-bulk aisle offers shoppers the chance to buy as much or as little as they need in flours, grains, spices and other grocery items.

Buying any item by the case at Whole Foods earns a 5 percent discount. Only protein bars are excluded. Just visit the customer service counter, said Frechette.

In the freezer aisle, frozen loaves of bread are a bargain and they are baked in your own oven. Frozen vegetables, including a variety of stir-fry mixes for $2.29, make crafting a home meal easier. Just buy a protein, if desired, and a sauce from the grocery aisle, and you have dinner.

Whole Foods has made its name in specialty items and now on shelves are many gluten free options from mixes to ready made goods. All store brand items come from a gluten-free facility that Whole Foods has in North Carolina so there is no contamination, she said.

Local foods — from oysters to breads to eggs to nuts — are all noted with signs. Shopping for them might take time but offers fresh rewards.

Bring your own mug and a cup of coffee is 92 cents. That is part of the store’s green mission, said Frechette.

Chef Holly Dion, culinary specialist at the market, also joined the tour. Dion was a chef at many local restaurants, including Ferns and Flowers in Warwick, the Gatehouse and Eclectic Grille in Providence and the Cheeky Monkey in Newport. Her department is full of temptations and daily Blue Plate specials put together meals to eat there or take home.

She offers samples in the prepared foods department on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. She also demonstrates recipes. Even more food is served Friday for family night at the store from 4:30 to 6:30 during which all departments offer food samples, some with children in mind.

The next Shopping on a Budget store tour at Whole Foods Market at University Heights it will be Wednesday, March 19, at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Call to register at (401) 621-5990. The Whole Foods Market at Garden City Center, 151 Sockanosset Cross Rd., Cranston, (401) 345-6883, will offer their first two tours tomorrow.

gciampa@projo.com