Lu says Ole has invested heavily in facilities and improving services. It also isn't overburdened with trying to sell everything so it can better control its supply channels and make better judgments on which goods to offer. The store manager says that because of high import tariffs, prices of imported goods in their supermarkets are much higher than in the country of origin.

Liu Gang, merchandising manager for Ole Northern China, says his work is bargaining with suppliers and updating the store's supply with the most popular items every three months. They single out products from hundreds of Chinese suppliers. Once an item doesn't sell, they drop the product.

China's food and beverage imports rose 32.4 percent to $35.5 billion last year from the previous year. Sugar, candy, baked goods, convenience foods and dairy products were the top five items in terms of value, according to Chinairr.org, a leading Chinese industry research organization.

Beijing Jinhebaili Trading Co Ltd focuses on supplying imported chocolates, cookies and olive oil for about 200 supermarkets in Beijing. Chen Li, marketing manager of the company, says the company is more than willing to work with boutique shops in offering premium, hard-to-find products.

"Our target customers prefer boutique supermarkets, although the same product sold on the grand shelves are 5 to 10 percent higher than in general supermarkets.

yaojing@chinadaily.com.cn