A family bird food story since 1937
Haith’s began with one bird-keeper’s determination to find cleaner, more consistent seed.
John “Ted” Haith was Head Keeper at Grimsby Zoo, where he cared for its bird collection. Frustrated by the dust and debris arriving with the seed available at the time, he began experimenting with ways to clean it himself.
The unlikely breakthrough involved a tin bath borrowed from a neighbour. It became the beginning of a family bird food business that continues in Lincolnshire today.
Follow the Haith’s story
Before and after
Ted’s original problem
In the 1930s, Ted could not find a dependable supplier of the clean cage and aviary seed he wanted for the birds in his care. Rather than accept what was available, he began constructing his own ways of removing dust and debris from seed.
According to Haith family history, the cleaned seed appeared to make a noticeable difference to his birds and coincided with some of his most successful breeding periods. Interest soon spread among other bird-keepers and members of the zoo community.
What began as a practical answer for Ted’s own birds became something other bird-keepers wanted too.
From one bird-keeper to a family business
This account is drawn from Haith family history and the company archive.
The beginning
Requests for Ted’s cleaned seed grew beyond the needs of his own birds and the zoo. He eventually faced a choice between remaining Head Keeper and developing the growing seed business.
Encouraged by fellow bird-keepers who wanted him to continue supplying them, Ted founded Haith’s in 1937.
A permanent home
Ten years later, Ted bought a war-damaged three-storey chapel in Cleethorpes. He repaired the building, strengthened it with steel supports and laid new floors ready for seed-cleaning machinery.
The chapel gave the growing business room to move beyond the small-scale methods with which Ted had started.
A business takes shape
As Haith’s grew, offices were built beside the factory and an old storeroom became a machine room where reusable cotton seed sacks were repaired.
Customers returned the sacks for credit against later orders. Bird food travelled by British Rail to Royal Mail sorting offices, before Royal Mail vans completed the journey to customers’ homes.
Across generations
Seed cleaning, mixing and packing remained at the heart of the family business in Cleethorpes. The equipment and methods developed, while Haith’s continued to work from Ted’s founding principles of quality, service and value.
Room to develop
The old chapel held many memories, but its residential location and restricted access became increasingly difficult as deliveries grew. Haith’s searched for a site where it could install a purpose-built seed-cleaning plant to its own specification.
The move to Europarc in Grimsby marked the next major chapter and created more room for cleaning, blending and packing.
The present chapter
In 2023, Haith’s relocated to Louth, Lincolnshire. The move began a new chapter centred on preparing bird food while developing space for nature around the business.
The address has changed and the machinery has advanced considerably since Ted’s tin bath, but the original concern remains recognisable: prepare cleaner seed and serve people who care for birds.
Explore the Bird Food Centre →
What has not changed
How can we prepare better seed for the birds people care about?
Today, Haith’s uses its SuperClean™ process to remove dust, husks and debris from relevant seed before blending. Clean food does not replace appropriate feeding, good hygiene or careful observation, but it remains an important foundation.
That connection between cleaner seed, practical bird-keeping and service to customers links the Haith’s of 1937 with the business today.
Discover the SuperClean™ story →The journey continues
From food for garden visitors to specialist cage and aviary ranges, the work that began with Ted’s search for cleaner seed continues.
