Shares of Singapore-listed Sheng Siong Group rose to a record high on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, turning the CEO that oversees the business from a Singapore dollar billionaire into a US dollar billionaire.

This was after supermarkets have become the preferred place to shop after the government imposed circuit breaker measures, also known as a partial lockdown, to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Sheng Siong stock has rallied more than 30 per cent since a March 19 closing low.

Rags to riches

Sheng Siong Group is run by the Lim family.

The CEO, Lim Hock Chee, used to sell chilled pork at a rented stall in a grocery store with his wife.

He started the pork stall to sell an excess supply of meat from his father's pig farm.

The brothers subsequently took over the supermarket where the stall was located.

In 1985, it was turned into the first Sheng Siong store.

More than 35 years later, his family members operate 61 supermarkets across Singapore.

Booming trade

The grocery business has over the years turned them into Singapore dollar billionaires -- Lim's billionaire status was attained some time between 2016 and 2017.

The family's combined fortune has today surged to US$1.1 billion (S$1.57 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

This figure is based on the Lims' 57 per cent stake in the supermarket chain held mainly by Lim and his two brothers.

Regulatory filings show that Lim bought more shares last month through an account jointly held with his wife.

Poised to get richer

Previous outbreaks have showed that the grocery business did brisk business.

The Straits Times interviewed Lim in 2008.

He shared his insight then: "When people stayed away from restaurants during SARS, we enjoyed brisk business because more people started buying food to cook at home."

The founders declined to comment on their wealth to Reuters, according to a Sheng Siong spokesman.

Digital banking scene

Today, the Lims are planning a foray into Singapore's digital banking scene.

The brothers and their family were put under the spotlight in 2014, when their mother was kidnapped.

She was released unharmed.

Lim paid the ransom, which led to the kidnapper's arrest, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

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