"She'd never been here since we changed," says the Ethiopian native.

The African Restaurant & Mini Mart opened about five years ago near 1800 South on Redwood Road and until the past few months the bottom floor was filled with aisle after aisle of food while a meat counter in the back boasted Australian lamb and goat meat - a favorite of his west and east African customers.

Now, only two walls carry food, and that deli case sits empty because the cost of the meat rose so steeply. "If I just put [a higher] price on it," Hunde laments, "they don't buy it."

That's the problem nowadays at Hunde's store and other ethnic markets in the Salt Lake Valley: Customers buying less. Like businesses nationwide, they feel the strain of skyrocketing fuel costs pumping up shipping fees and, in the end, sticker prices. But these specialty stores face the added pressure of buying their foreign products with a drooping dollar.

"A weak currency is always bad news for an importer," says Michael Mamo, a Westminster College economics professor from Ethiopia and a regular at the African Restaurant.

Inflation is striking most industries, Mamo explains, but foreign products keep costing more as the U.S. dollar sags against the British pound, European euro, Chinese yen and other currencies.

Utah's African food stores - due to the relatively small, but growing, population of African immigrants in the Beehive State - also grapple with another economic fact of life: Lower demand leads to higher prices.

Atlanta and Washington, D.C., for instance, have enough African residents to create the demand for direct flights between the two continents. Utah's store owners must pay extra to truck out their berbere spice and tafii flour.

Besides being smaller in number, Utah's African newcomers also have less spending power.

First-generation immigrants often have fewer resources than subsequent children and grandchildren, says Pamela Perlich, a senior research economist at the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

The larger and more-established Asian and Latino markets might fare better, she says.

That seems to be the case at the Kim Long Oriental Market near 3500 South and Redwood Road in West Valley City. The shelves are still full. But prices have ticked up.

Owner Mai Nguyen says she and her husband try to keep prices down as they see customers juggling their own shrinking budgets.

"Now, they only buy whatever's on their list, what they need," she says. "They don't buy extra."

Prices are going up everywhere, says one of those customers, West Jordan resident Wayne Tang. "We have no choice," he adds, "we need food."

And these imported foods are seen as necessities, not luxuries.

"Food is such a part of people's lives and culture," Perlich says. "You want to hold on to those things that you're used to and give you comfort."

To make ends meet, she says, shoppers rearrange their spending habits - maybe by dining out less. But groceries are virtually "the last thing people will scrimp on."

So even though prices are rising, Shaheen Hamid's customers still frequent his India Bazaar - down the street from Kim Long - because it's one of the few places that sells all the spices in bulk that they need to make their curries.

And no chain grocers carry the many brands of ghee (clarified butter) that Mohammed Omar's regulars like to choose from at his Keyr Groceries and Imports near 1700 South and Redwood Road in Salt Lake City.

Hershey's has a plant in the United States that makes Cadbury chocolates, but they don't taste as good as the ones imported by the London Market (across from Trolley Square), says manager and Brit Brenda Shorten.

But megamarts are competition for West Valley City's Tenochtitlan Market near 3500 South and Redwood Road and other Latino specialty stores.

Simply stated, there is money for all retailers in marketing to Latinos, who make up the largest ethnic minority group in the state. In West Valley City, for example, estimates put their numbers at close to 25 percent.

West Valley City resident Citlalli Mendoza shops at several warehouse and grocery stores to find the best deal.

Mendoza says Tenochtitlan is best for fresh meats and vegetables - other stores might sell fresh cactus but it's really expensive, she adds - but packaged goods, such as chocolate or baby formula from Mexico are cheaper at the large stores.

Tenochtitlan's manager, Juan Ledo, says big-box stores are tapping into the market for goods from Mexico (by far the largest segment of Utah Latinos), but his store also stocks goods from Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Honduras.

"People don't stop coming here," Ledo says. "People know what they like."

Even if they are paying more and buying less - no matter where they shop.

mariav@sltrib.com

Items found at ethnic markets

* ASIAN: Whole soybean ginger sauce, canned lotus rootlet in brine, Tom Yum soup base, frozen ready-made lumpia.

* LATINO: Fresh flour and corn tortillas, tamales, epazote (an herb), panela cheese.

* INDIAN: Canned Gulab Jamun, paneer cheese, rice and lentil flour mix, Ajwan seeds.

* AFRICAN: Dried apricot paste, date-filled cookies, mango nectar juice, budenaa bread.

* BRITISH: Mushy peas, treacle (a toffee-like candy), mint jelly, steak-and-onion flavor potato chips.