( L - R ) C.E. Johnston, Capt. S.D. list, Ernest Johnston
When Charles Edward Johnston and Captain Sibrandt D. List decided to form Jamaica Fruit and Shipping Company in 1919 to compete with the mighty North American companies that controlled the Jamaica banana industry, they did not have their own ships or a marketing organisation in the USA. So how did they manage to not only gain a foothold but eventually become Jamaica's leading fruit exporter? The answer is a study in partnership-building at both the local and global levels.
At the international level, Jamaica Fruit and Shipping entered into a profit-sharing arrangement with Di Giorgio Fruit Corporation to provide ships and a market for Jamaican bananas in the U.S.A.; shipments were also made to Canada on the Canadian National Steamship Line for which Jamaica Fruit and Shipping was the agent.
Under the able leadership of C. E. Johnston, Jamaica Fruit and Shipping continued to grow and prosper, and developed a significant share of the Jamaica/U.S. banana trade in partnership with Di Giorgo (which was later to become the largest fruit grower in the United States).
At the local level, a profit-sharing partnership was forged with Jamaican banana growers in what was the genesis of the co-operative movement in the country. This arrangement with Di Giorgo and the local farmers continued until 1929 when the Jamaica Banana Producers Association (JBPA) banana co-operative (today, Jamaica Producers Group), was formed. Jamaica Producers Group (JPG) became shipowners and, later, founder members of the Shipping Association of Jamaica. JPG is still active today in the shipping business, carrying bananas from Jamaica, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, and bringing back general cargo from the United Kingdom.
The visionaries who founded Jamaica Fruit saw that the future of Jamaica's agriculture, industry and trade would also require a shipping industry that was efficient, productive and based on worker-management relations that promoted industrial harmony at the port of Kingston. So when the wharf operators of Kingston faced Alexander Bustamante's call for a general strike in 1939, C. E. Johnston and Captain List joined with other progressive thinking owners to take a path of engagement rather than confrontation in the best interest of Jamaica. They helped to establish the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) as an employers' union to negotiate as equals with the unions representing the portworkers. The SAJ evolved into a unique organisation of employers that, to date, jointly employs labour, and operates schemes for the workers' benefit and participated in the first Joint Industrial Council formed in Jamaica.
Captain S.D.List became the founding president (then called chairman) of the SAJ and served until 1941. He spent another two years on the SAJ's managing committee and retired from business in 1945, two years before his death. Among the honours Capt. List received were the Knighthood of the Kingdom of Denmark. He was the consul for Denmark in Jamaica, and was a member of the Honourable Society of Master Mariners of England.
It was also in 1929 that Jamaica Fruit and Grace Kennedy jointly leased, then purchased, the 'Grace' building and the 'Grace' wharf from W. R. Grace in New York. Together, the two companies operated the wharf, and also jointly purchased an adjoining wharf. Then, in 1939, Jamaica Fruit and Grace Kennedy put their wharf assets into a new company named Kingston Wharves Limited, which included most of the wharf operators at the time. Jamaica Fruit remains a committed shareholder in Kingston Wharves Limited, and continues to participate in the development of this company.
In 1959, Ernest Johnston was elected chairman of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, the now powerful voice of Jamaica's shipping industry. In that same year, with Ernest as it's chairman, Jamaica Fruit and Shipping entered into a joint venture with the Kirkconnell family of Grand Cayman whereby both parties jointly leased a vessel to ply the Miami/Kingston/ Cayman route. Kirk Line, as it was named, became a household name in this trade. Kirk Line was later sold to Seaboard Marine, and JFS became Seaboard Marine's agents until 2002 when Seaboard Jamaica, a joint venture between JFS and Seaboard Marine, was established to manage their own agency.
Also in 1959, Jamaica Fruit and Shipping became joint managers of Canada Jamaica Line with Grace Kennedy and Company. This line operated between the east coast of Canada and Jamaica, bringing flour, saltfish, herring, and sardines for the distributive trade of Jamaica, who were also shareholders of the line. They included Lascelles deMercado, Adolph Levy & Bros Ltd., Bryden and Evelyn, T. Geddes Grant, GraceKennedy & Co., and C. P. Stephenson & Company.
Ernest Johnston made another change in December 1975 when the shipping interests of Jamaica Fruit were merged with Sprostons (Jamaica) Limited - the shipping division of the Aluminium Company of Canada (ALCAN). The new entity, Jamaica Freight and Shipping Co. Ltd began January 1, 1976 and is today a full service Shipping Agency, representing major container lines, tramp vessels and NVOCCs.
The history of Jamaica Fruit and Shipping is one of bold vision, intrepid determination and inspiring leadership. Moreover, Jamaica Fruit has been providing Jamaica with leaders committed to nation-building, dating back to the early 20th century.
