Deep-dive 2021-1: Dairy Farm

Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (DFI SP) is a pan-Asian retailer run by Jardine Matheson, the family holding company of Sir Henry Keswick.

The company was founded as a dairy farm in Hong Kong in 1886 by Scotsman Sir Patrick Mason and a group of five Hong Kong businessmen. It branched out into dairy retail, and later added supermarkets via the acquisition of the Wellcome grocery chain. Henry Keswick's Jardine Matheson acquired Dairy Farm and later relisted it in 1986. Since then, it has acquired retail operations across Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia as well as China.

Today, the company's primary focus is supermarkets, restaurants and convenience stores, representing almost 50% of operating profit. Another 40% comes from health & beauty stores, or what Westerners would normally consider as pharmacies. The remaining portion of revenues comes from home furnishing stores. North Asia (primarily Mainland China and Hong Kong) represents roughly 2/3 of profits, with Southeast Asia…