Jim Kebbell 1938 - 2026

Commonsense co-founder Jim Kebbell died at his Island Bay home on January 13. He was 87.

 A life well lived

Jim grew up on a sheep farm in Ashhurst, but once he left home, it seems he tried everything! Catholic priest, protester, teacher, sailor, provider of halfway houses for the pushed outs, taxi driver, organic farming pioneer, entrepreneur, raconteur, pasta maker, and above all adored husband, father and Grandad … these are just some of the labels that applied throughout his life.

Jim was many things - sailor and protestor, priest, pasta maker, business and family man

It was a life of colour, vigour and service, underpinned by an intrinsic belief in fairness. He applied this conviction to running his own businesses – the Commonsense shops and the farm, Common Property.  Jim believed that we should have sovereignty over the food that we eat, and that growers should be reasonably remunerated for producing food that honoured the land it was grown on, and the communities it was grown for.

An Organic Champion

Common Property in Te Horo was set up in 1975 and was one of the first Biogro certified farms in New Zealand. In fact, many of the original standards for organics in Aotearoa were drafted on the kitchen table at Common Property.

Jim was active in the organic community serving as Chair of BioGro for many years and was also involved in the founding of the organic umbrella group, Organics Aotearoa NZ.  In the 2021 New Year Honours, Marion and Jim were made Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit for their services to sustainable business and the community. He remained on the Board of Commonsense and was actively involved in managing Common Property until he died.

Jim at Common Property through the decades: pictured in 1984, 2000 and 2024

Jim wasn’t always sold on organics though. His initial assessment reflected his background growing up on a conventional sheep farm - he thought it was ‘a load of nonsense’. Once he discovered that Shell Oil owned the patent to many of the world’s seeds he realised that the organic movement was also a social and political movement. From then on he became one of its biggest champions and began a 50 year journey into organic growing at Common Property and later organic retailing at Commonsense.

You can hear him talk further on this subject in this video from 2016, filmed in commemoration of 25 years of Commonsense.

The Early Days of Commonsense

When Jim first started Commonsense his retailing credentials were not stunning.  In 1973 he and his wife, Marion had started the first Trade Aid shop in Wellington. Unfortunately what they seemed to excel at most was keeping people out of the shop! The store opened in a room on the second floor of a house in Willis St which was very difficult to find. If customers did find the shop they were then confronted with the Troskyists next door shouting at the Marxists down the corridor. In the unlikely event that they made it inside the shop they’d be confronted by accusing posters such as “Your cat gets more protein than people in the Third World”. Not exactly what you’d call an optimal retail environment!  

Jim started the first Commonsense store in 1991 on Wakefield Street, largely to sell produce grown at Common Property and to try to mainstream organics. His outgoing personality meant that he enjoyed running the store and meeting new people. However his selling strategy was unique. He was famous for his outrage at customers “ruining” his beautiful stacks of produce.  “Don’t touch those!” he’d holler across the aisle at someone attempting to put apples into their basket - “I’ve just put them there!” Needless to say he didn’t sell a lot in the early days...  

Thankfully, he eventually worked out that retailing was about attracting people to come into the shop and allowing them to buy things and he built Commonsense into a successful business. 

Jim the Grocer; Moving to the corner shop on Wakefield St; Guarding his apple stack!

What Matters Most – People and Planet

While his selling skills may have been questionable, he was a natural at investing in people and their well-being. Marion recalls the first Commonsense Christmas party:

‘I had very carefully worked out the menu with the café as cashflow was tight.  We had a lovely meal all within our budget and then just as we were about to leave Jim said  “we better just see the dessert menu”… He then proceeded to order affogato for the 20 of us there completely throwing my budget right out the window!’

Jim surrounded by Commonsense staff at our 25th Birthday Celebrations

Over his lifetime, Jim became increasingly concerned about the deterioration of the environment as industrialisation scaled up. He firmly believed that protecting the land and waterways was paramount and he recognised that any economic system will always be a subset of the environment. This has always been a cornerstone principle at Commonsense. 

What Would Jim Do?

Jim never wavered on his values. If we were looking for a clever way to deal with people who were difficult or dishonest he would remind us that ‘We live by our values, not by theirs’.  As a result, “What Would Jim Do?” has become a benchmark for decision making within our organisation.

Jim Kebbell was funny, articulate and full of integrity.  He was also resourceful, patient and very kind. He loved life and passionately believed in the ultimate goodness of people.  It was maybe his love of sailing that gave him such a clear sense of the sublime power of the natural world.  He had a very strong sense of the sacred and he knew from experience that we can only survive if we respect the elements and work in harmony with nature. 

James Edward Kebbell – elder, leader, father, grandfather, husband and friend – will be greatly missed by us all. Our challenge now is to try and live up to the example he set.

Jim Kebbell 1938 - 2026