JOHN HALL (JAMES CRISP)
Born January 20, 1924; Died October 5, 2018
While John Hall maintained giant-like status inside the grocery industry, he was relatively unknown to
the New Zealand public…even though most of them would have consumed (and enjoyed) his products.
Anyone in the food industry would say Hall was ahead of his time, making the most of his opportunities
and driving the phenomenal success of two companies.
Hall was born in
Riverton in 1924, one
of seven children in a
poor family. Recalling
the effects of the
Depression of the 1930s, he could
remember seeing desperate workers
ransacking Dunedin’s leading grocery
store Wardell’s. Although poor, the
family was rich in spirit and attitude,
and nothing short of perfection was
good enough.
In 1939 at the age of 15, he began
work as an office junior at Bing Harris
& Co for 15 shillings a week. He was
aware that his family disapproved of
him leaving school so early and, in an
early example of making the most of
his opportunities, he went to ‘Night
Tech’ to study book-keeping three
nights a week.
His uncle James Crisp, who
had moved James Crisp Ltd to
Auckland, noted his attempts to
be a successful businessman, and
eventually offered him a job at Wright
Stephenson & Co. It was there,
Hall said, that he realised he had to
work hard to stand out above the
sons of the department and branch
managers “as the logical choice for
the next rung up the ladder.”
At age 16, on the declaration of
war, Hall joined the Territorials -
despite the legal age being 18. In
1942, when all 18-year-old boys
were called up for service, he was
made a lance corporal because he
had previous experience. In 1943,
annoyed that he wasn’t seeing
much action, he wrote to the Air
Department to say his time would
be much better employed in the
Army rather than sweeping out the
Sergeants’ Mess, and he eventually
served in Noumea, Guadalcanal and
Bougainville.
After the war, Hall rejoined Wright
Stephenson, before moving to
Auckland to start a sole-trader
business as a wholesale grocery
merchant, trading with stores such
as Farmers Trading, Henry Berry, LD
Nathan, Foodstuffs, Bond & Bond,
and NZ Loan & Mercantile. In 1957,
his uncle offered him a job - and later
a partnership - at James Crisp. A
suspension of all imports directed
by the Nash Government almost
saw the end of the company, but it
survived.
As James Crisp flourished once
again, Hall turned the company
into the brand specialist it is today
– representing manufacturers of
many iconic foods in promotion, high
performance sales, merchandising,
logistics and warehousing. As well
as serving several supermarket
chains, the company promotes and
sells private label products and bulk
ingredients to food manufacturers in
Australasia, but maintains its original
business as an importer and supplier
of ingredients.
It was where Hall had his first contact
56 ANNUAL DIRECTORY 2019