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By the end of December 2003, the Dairy Farm Group and its related associations run 2,570 outlets, supermarkets, restaurants, hypermarkets, health and beauty stores, convenience storeA convenience store is a small store or shop generally accessible or local. They are often located alongside busy roads, or at gas/petrol stations. This can take the form of gas stations supplementing their income with retail outlets, or convenience stores, and home furnishingsFurniture is the collective term for the movable objects which support the human body (seating furniture and beds), provide storage, and hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. Storage furniture is used to hold or contain smaller objects suc stores. Among 956 stores in South Asia operated by Dairy Farm, 433 are in Singapore, 186 are in Malayasia, 222 are in Indonesia and 115 are in India. The sales of Dairy Farm South Asia increased 24% compared to the previous year. There is a 48% improvement in profit before interest and tax in US dollar terms for the year ended 31 December 2003. It now employs 56,800 people in the region and has around 2,000 sales from ongoing operations worth 4.5 billion US dollars in total.
Dairy Farm was set up in 1886 by Sir Patrick Manson, a Scottish surgeon, and five well known Hong Kong businessmen. They initially aimed to improve the health of Hong Kong people by providing them with non-contaminated cows' milk and to import a herd of dairy cattle so as to decrease the price of milk by more than half.
In 1890, Dairy Farm built a low-rise brick and stucco building on Lower Albert Road in Central for use as a cold storage warehouse. This warehouse was later renovated and expanded in 1913 to include a dairy shop, a room for smoking meat, a cold storage room for winter clothes and the residence of the General Manger. The building later evolved into the company headquarters until the company moved in the 1970s. The abandoned and dilapidating building was acquired by the Fringe Club, a non-profit-making arts organisation, in 1984, and has been carefully restored. This distinctive 19th Century building is now a well-known landmark in Central providing a wide variety of cultural activities and performances.
In 1896, there was an outbreak of rinderpest, a lethal cattle disease. With the number of European residents in Hong Kong exceeding 15,000, the Company became profitable.
In 1904, Dairy Farm began importing frozen meat and opened its first retail store at the Central District depot.
In 1918, the second Dairy Farm store was established on Nathan Road, Kowloon. This store provides fishing boats in Hong Kong with a large amount of ice.
In May 2003, Dairy Farm obtained 34 Tops supermarkets in Malaysia from Royal Ahold. The Tops supermarkets were divided into two chains and were renamed Giant and Cold Storage respectively. This acquisition took the number of supermarkets owned by Dairy Farm in Malaysia to 47 .
Dairy Farm is a listed company. Its primary shares are sold in the London Stock Exchange, and secondary shares in the Singapore and Bermuda stock exchanges.
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