Dairy Farm Co Advertisments

I see that another contributor to Gwulo managed (like me) to get their library to subscribe to Proquest for a trial week in order to search the SCMP archive. You would then find all the Dairy Farm ads you could possibly want. If you are within reach of the British Library you could also order microfilm of the SCMP for the dates in which you are interested. You can either join the BL (in person) or get a day pass. Once you are there (or a member) you can also get help for titles of cookery books within the period of your research that the BL will doubtless have in stock somewhere.

So glad that you've managed to get access to the SCMP archives. I've just had a look at the BL catalogue and there isn't anything obviously pertinent to early HK cookery. A better bet might be SOAS. You could send an enquiry to their archivist and if they have something interesting you could order it on Inter-Library Loan. Details here:

Archives & Special Collections, Library,
SOAS University of London
Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
+44 (0)207 898 4180
docenquiry@soas.ac.uk
http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/archives

Hello, Habaan. You submitted your post at the right time when the Pokfulam Farm is going to open to the public for free starting tomorrow (27th March 2023).

Take a look at the following link to see if you could dig out anything useful to you.

https://www.pokfulamfarm.org.hk/en/about-the-pokfulam-farm/the-pokfulam…

Just some additional information I obtained and translated from Wiki, there is a very large building complex called "Chi Fu Fa Yuen" near the Pokfulam Farm. The complex consists of 20 high-rise buildings and 7 blocks of villa style buildings. Dairy Farm (now known as DFI) was aggressively acquired by Hongkong Land in 1973. The buildings in the complex were completed between 1978 and 1981. In 1973 and before, there sure were cows on the hill.

(READ MORE at https://gwulo.com/node/31397#16~22.2582~114.1402~Map_by_GovHK-Markers~1…)

Wishing you success in your current project!

Jimmy

Also for your information, here is an extract (with some spelling corrections by me) of a translation of an official Japanese publication prepared by the Far Eastern Economics Bureau of Hong Kong under the supervision of the Information Department of the Japanese Government General of the Hong Kong Occupied Territory.

Section 4. Livestock.

The kinds of livestock raised in Hong Kong include cattle, horses, swine, chickens, etc. In the past, meat from Hainan Island and elsewhere constituted the supply, and local livestock was not in a flourishing condition. Even with swine, which were the principal kind of livestock,there was only one head per agricultural household - a poor showing. At present, the households specializing in livestock production raise milkcows and swine; and the other animals are raised by the farmers only as a supplementary occupation. Moreover, an increase in feed does not seem likely. The actual condition in Hong Kong is that there are no means of encouraging the production of livestock other than by supplementing the supply of agricultural labor and feed, together with agricultural improvement.

The Government General of the Hong Kong Occupied Area has put Japanese firms in charge of the Hong Kong Stock Farm and the Kowloon Stock Farm (the former "Dairy Farms"); and at present there is a rather large number of milk cows on them. Swine and domestic fowl are raised, and the milk and meat are used to supply military and civilian requirements, for dairying use, and for feeding (T.N. calves). Also, it is planned to increase the number of head on these stock farms.

The Hong Kong Stock Farm was established in 1886, sponsored by Butterick Manson (See Note 2 & Note 3 for errata), a British chemist, and in 1920 it was combined with the Hong Kong Ice and Cold Storage Co., Ltd., as the Dairy Farm, Inc. and Cold Storage Co., Ltd. Subsequently, the stock farm, cold storage facilities, ice plant, etc., were expanded; and in 1925 its capitalization was 2,200,000 dollars. After the occupation by the Imperial Forces, its stock farm, refrigeration plant, cold storage facilities, and ice plant were put under the management of a Japanese company, and remain so at present. The refrigeration and cold storage facilities are used not only for the storage of milk and milk products (cream, butter, and cheese) but are also extensively used for the refrigeration and storage of fish and shellfish. They are making a great contribution to the supply of seafood in Hong Kong.

Notes:

1. The translation was completed in June 1945 just before the end of World War II. The first paragraph appears on Page 140 while the second and third paragraphs appear on Page 141 of the translated document.
2. According to the Chinese version of Wiki about the DFI Retail Group, it is stated that
   牛奶公司創辦於1886年，由蘇格蘭籍醫生，後世尊為熱帶醫學之父的萬巴德爵士（Sir Patrick Manson）與5位香港商人合作成立。早期牛奶公司以3萬港元在港島西區薄扶林建立牧場，飼養80隻從英國入口的乳牛生產新鮮牛奶。
   and is translated (with the help from Google Translate) as follows:
   Dairy Farm was founded in 1886 by Sir Patrick Manson, a Scottish doctor who later became the Father of Tropical Medicine, and five Hong Kong businessmen. The early milk company established a pasture in Pokfulam, west of Hong Kong Island, with 30,000 Hong Kong dollars, raising 80 dairy cows imported from the UK to produce fresh milk.
3. You may also look at DFI Retail Group website for more historical information about the Group.
4. For other dairy companies in Hong Kong, you may refer to the following links:-
   The Kowloon Dairy
   Trappist Dairy (Hong Kong) Limited
    

Habaan,

if you contact David I can arrange for you to visit the Hongkong Land archives.

Dairy Farm whilst co-founded by Mr Paul Chater and Dr Patrick Manson in 1886 and was a food retailing company that held a large  but under utilised land bank. Hence in November 1972, Honkong Land launched a successful takeover bid for Dairy Farm, releasing a lot of land for development, whilst allowing Dairy Farm to maintain an independent operating structure to concentrate on its own core business. The impact of this takeover on Hongkong Land at the time would be profound. New fields for property development had opened up, the largest would be on the slopes of Pokfulam, for the future Chi Fu Fa Yuen residential development.

Dairy Farms old Ice House building in Central, located where Ice House Street meets Lower Albert Road and Wyndham Street, was to be taken back by the Government in 1976 for proposed road widening. In exchange, the Company received a 930sq.m site in Castle Peak and where Dairy Farm developed new ice factory. The road works never went ahead and the plans to demolish the old 'Central Depot' were shelved by the Government.

Relationships across the matrix of companies owned by Hongkong  Land and Jardines enabled business opportunities to open in Southern China. In 1979 China Air Catering Limited formed a joint venture with the Civil Avaiation Administration of China to operate flight kitchens  at Beijing's airport.

In 1986/1987 as part of Hongkong Land's restructuring both Dairy Farm and Mandarin Oriental became separate  publicly listed companies, with Jardine's having controlling shares in both.