Deli Company (Dutch language: ''Deli Maatschappij'') is a trading and distribution company in the timber, construction product and tobacco industries. It began as large tobacco plantation and production operation established in 1869 by the Dutch in
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. It was granted a land concession by the
Sultanate of Deli
Sultanate of Deli (Indonesian: ''Kesultanan Deli Darul Maimoon''; Jawi: ) was a 1,820 km² Malay state in east Sumatra founded in 1630. A tributary kingdom from 1630 it was controlled by various Sultanates until 1814, when it became an in ...
.
[
The company relied on immigrant ]coolie
A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent.
The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...
labor.[Transforming the Public Sphere: The Dutch National Exhibition of Women’s Labor in 1898]
Maria Grever, Berteke Waaldijk Duke University Press, 2 June 2004 page 136, 152 Black shank
''Phytophthora nicotianae'' or black shank is an oomycete belonging to the order Peronosprales and family Peronosporaceae.
Hosts and symptoms
''Phytophthora nicotianae'' has a broad host range comprising 255 genera from 90 families. Hosts inclu ...
was a problem and was researched on the plantation. Publicly traded on the Amsterdam stock market, it was the first modern company to pay large annual stock dividend
A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...
s.[ Jacobus Nienhuys founded the company. A few years later he returned to the Netherlands after being indicted for the death of 7 workers][ and administration of the company was taken over by Jacob Theodoor Cremer who became its largest shareholder.][ The company's headquarters was constructed in Medan in 1911.
The company diversified into tea, rubber and other industries and acquired other companies over the years. Deli Company's tobacco business was ]nationalize
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
d by Indonesia along with other Dutch enterprises in 1958 under Indonesian president Sukarno
Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of ...
.[ The state-owned Plantation Nusantara Group (PTP) took over the tobacco business but the Deli Company continued operations in other areas and businesses. It is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Universal Corporation.][Deli Universal History]
Funding Universe The business was established near the Deli River
Deli River (Indonesian: Sungai Deli) is a river located in Sumatra, Indonesia, and courses through Medan before discharging to the Strait of Malacca near the port city of Belawan. It is one of the eight rivers in Medan. The Deli Sultanate was f ...
.[
]
History
The company was established in Medan, then just a village, but conveniently located at the confluence of the Deli
Deli may refer to:
* Delicatessen, a shop selling specially prepared food, or food prepared by such a shop
* Sultanate of Deli, a former sultanate in North Sumatra, Indonesia
Places
* Deli, Boyer-Ahmad, a village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Pro ...
and Babura Rivers.[ Business grew rapidly.][ The company gained a commanding position in the area's tobacco trade, running 10 huge estates and eventually controlling exports with a monopoly. It developed railroads including 54 stations and built a field hospital. As the company and Medan grew, the Sultan of Deli ( Ma'mun Al Rashid) moved his residence from Labuhan and Medan became the capital of North Sumatra in 1891.][
Beside the possessions in Dutch East Indies the Deli Company had a lot of assets][Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (Cultural Heritage Agency)] in both Amsterdam and Rotterdam to ensure smooth operations, e.g.:
* Offices at Herengracht 286, 380 and 586, Amsterdam
* warehouse Het Veem, Amsterdam
* warehouses Medan, Bindjeij and Laboean
* Warehouse Wijnhaven, Rotterdam
Cigar smoking declined in the 1920s and the industry was hit hard by the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
a decade later.[Battle to preserve North Sumatra's smoking past]
Peter Janssen 1 April 2015 Nikkei Asian Review
Gallery
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Bedrijfsmedewerkers van de Deli Maatschappij in het veld bij een stoomploeg en een ossenkar TMnr 60043456.jpg, Fieldworkers with an ox cart and steam plow
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het proefstation van de Deli Maatschappij te Medan TMnr 60012530.jpg, Deli Company experimental station in Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
(1919)
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het hoofdkantoor van de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60006949.jpg, Headquarters in Medan circa 1925
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Huis van de directeur van het Deli Proefstation voor Tabak TMnr 60047127.jpg, Director's house at the experimental station (1927)
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een groep bij de Deli Maatschappij werkzame Chinese arbeiders en opzichters TMnr 60011104.jpg, Chinese laborers, photo by Kristen Feilberg
Kristen Feilberg or Christen Schjellerup Feilberg (1839–1919) was an early Danish photographer who is known mainly for his images captured far beyond the borders of Denmark. From the 1860s until the 1890s, Feilberg participated in expeditions to ...
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van arbeiders in dienst bij de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60011111.jpg, Workers
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van de heer Nieuwenhuis werkzaam als administrateur bij de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60037989.jpg, Administrator Nieuwenhuis
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van H. Ingerman van 1897 tot 1901 werkzaam als hoofdadministrateur bij de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60042840.jpg, H. Ingerman, principal administrator from 1897 to 1901 at the Deli Company
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van de heer Van Tijen van 1911 tot 1916 werkzaam als hoofdadministrateur bij de Deli Maatschappij met zijn vrouw TMnr 60042836.jpg, Portrait of the administrator Van Tijen, who served from 1911-1916, with his spouse
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Studioportret van een hoofdschrijver bij de Deli Maatschappij met zijn vrouw TMnr 60039684.jpg, Portrait of a "hoofdschrijver", head clerk, with his wife circa 1900
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Personeel van de Deli maatschappij op Medan TMnr 60022969.jpg, Employees in Medan (1921)
See also
* Deli Railway
*Deli Sultanate
Sultanate of Deli (Indonesian: ''Kesultanan Deli Darul Maimoon''; Jawi: ) was a 1,820 km² Malay state in east Sumatra founded in 1630. A tributary kingdom from 1630 it was controlled by various Sultanates until 1814, when it became an in ...
*Deli Serdang Regency
Deli Serdang ( id, Kabupaten Deli Serdang; Jawi: دلي سردڠ) is a regency in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. It surrounds the city of Medan, and also borders the city of Binjai, which is effectively a bedroom community for Medan. ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies established in 1869
Tobacco companies of Indonesia
1869 establishments in the Dutch Empire
Agriculture companies of Indonesia