At this year's Swiss Week, a six-day event that aims to increase awareness about Switzerland in Shanghai, 14 Swiss companies displayed products ranging from food and wine to maternity and childcare at Huaihai Park. The event ran from last Wednesday to Monday.

Dairy

One of the exhibitors, Emmi, Switzerland's largest milk producer and one of Europe's most innovative dairies, produces a full range of dairy products and Swiss cheese. A success in the European and North American markets, the company entered China in 2008 and catered for the Swiss Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

Using fresh milk as the main ingredient in each product, the company focuses on freshness, convenience and healthy living.

There is now a growing market for high-protein yogurt, so Emmi has introduced its own Greek yogurt in China that is rich in this kind of nutrition, said Wang Xin, Emmi's sales and marketing manager.

Wang said that the original-flavor Greek yogurt, which is sugar-free, has been popular with expats living in China and diet-conscious Chinese customers. It is also offered at several five-star hotels and international airlines.

Later this year, fruit-flavored Greek yogurt, which might appeal to more conventional Chinese tastes, will go on sale. Another recent hit is coffee latte, which comes in three flavors.

Chocolate

Switzerland is famous around the world for its chocolate. Wernli, founded in 1905, is the country's best-known chocolate cookie company.

Processing Swiss chocolate and producing the best possible fillings is the company's core area of expertise. It uses all-natural ingredients and processes them as gently as possible.

Wernli doesn't use any preservatives or artificial favoring, said Peter Schmid, retail export manager of Wernli.

This year is the 50th anniversary of Wernli's star product, Choco Petit Beurre, a cookie topped with a layer of chocolate. In China, the cookie comes in two flavors, milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

Wine

Founded in 2012, Schuler Wine China is a subsidiary of SCHULER St.JakobsKellerei in Switzerland, one of the country's oldest and most storied winemakers. The parent company has been in business for 300 years.

According to company employee Bi Chengliang, only 2 percent to 3 percent of Swiss wine is exported, which makes it somewhat rare in the local wine market. Compared with French and Italian wine, Swiss wine is lighter in taste, primarily because of the cooler climate.

SCHULER is a family winemaker that follows strict standards, Bi said. The company owns two valleys in Switzerland and Italy, and has cooperated with its partner valleys for nearly 100 years. It also has its own quality supervision center that checks all products thoroughly before they go on sale.

Apart from selected premium hotel and restaurant partners, Schuler Wine China sells directly to the public. Products are on sale at an outlet on Shaanxi Road North as well as on the company's website.

Maternity and childcare

ARDO, another Swiss family business, develops and manufactures premium medical technology products. This is largely thanks to the expertise and effort dedicated to the company's center-of-excellence in the heart of central Switzerland.

The company primarily exhibited products for mothers and babies. One featured product was a manual and automatic breast pump, which extracts and preserves milk for breast-feeding. For the automatic version of the pump, there are eight modes for speed and power that give new mothers plenty of options to find one that best suits them. There are also a wide range of cup sizes to choose from, said Hu Hui, ARDO's on-site employee.

And there is Naef, a company established in 1954 in Basel. Naef features intimate baby articles and early childhood development toys that are world renowned for their beautiful form and color, intelligent construction and perfect craftsmanship.