Behn Meyer & Co. was established in Singapore in 1840 as a trading company by two seafaring young men from Hamburg - Theodor August Behn and Valentin Lorenz Meyer.The Company initially traded in tropical produce such as coconut oil, copra, pepper, camphor, rattan etc. and later expanded into shipping and insurance.At the outbreak of the First World War, Behn Meyer had offices and agencies in Singapore, Malaya, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. It was then the largest German trading and shipping house in the region.The Company lost all its assets and offices in South-East Asia during the Second World War. However, traditional trading relations were resumed once again after 1945.Behn Meyer now has a group of companies operating in Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Jamaica. Its parent company, Behn Meyer (D) Holding AG & Co. (formerly known as Arnold Otto Meyer) is based in Hamburg.