Havegärd plant in Algoma under new ownership

Jennifer Much

Contributor

October 17, 2023

ALGOMA – For nearly five decades, Havegärd has produced no-waste bird seed blends at its 225 Navarino St. Algoma location under the management of Havegärd Farm, Inc. and the Sheehy Family.

The Sheehys – who started the business in 1974 – also own the Havegärd Birdfeed Outlet store located just off State Highway 42 in Sturgeon Bay.

Last month, however, Jimmie and Chrissy Sullivan purchased the Algoma plant and will operate it under the name Havegärd Bird Seed LLC and maintain the current product line and catalog.

The Sheehys will continue to own and run the outlet store.

Purchasing the plant, Jimmie said, has been in the cards for quite some time.

“We had been looking at it since 2020,” he said. “The previous owner, Kevin, said we were the very first to check it out when it went up for sale.”

Jimmie – who has also owned a charter fishing business since the 1990s – said they want to keep the family tradition of Havegärd going, as well as spice things up a bit.

“We plan on a lot of additions and new products,” he said. 

Jimmie said his own experience with Havegärd products coupled with his lifelong interest in birds inspired him to purchase the business.

“I have been a very big bird person since I was a child and have more than 20 feeders in my yard,” he said. “When I heard the plant was for sale, I decided, let’s make some birds happy.”

The plant
Jimmie said the plant building provides ample space for storage and production – which includes a main floor retail space, a hand-operated chute and a workspace where feed bags are filled and closed off by impulse heat sealer machines.

He said packing is still done the old fashioned way – manually.

“We do around 6,000 bags a week depending on how big the orders are,” he said.

Havegärd offers a variety of bird feeding products including safflower seed, niger thistle seed, wild finch mix and refillable thistle pouches.

Havegärd packs around 6,000 bags a week – all manually. Jennifer Much Photo

“Our most popular product is our 25-pound wild bird seed,” Jimmie said.

One of the things that makes Havegärd unique, Jimmie said, is that it doesn’t use fillers like Milo and has natural cherry juice in its proprietary blends.

“We stand out because our product has cherry juice in the mix that attracts birds like crazy,” he said. “This seed has been proven by myself and others to be the first hit at the feeders and the fastest to be eaten out of the many feeders out.”

Plans for growth
Havegärd products, Jimmie said, are currently marketed throughout the State of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota – as well as some products on the East Coast.

“There are more than 100 retailers that sell our product and Fleet Farm is the biggest retailer,” he said.

Jimmie said they hope to expand that reach even further.

“We plan to be somewhat aggressive in looking for new accounts,” he said. “It is also possible to soon have a second shift for production.”

Jimmie said the outlet in Sturgeon Bay will also continue to sell Havegärd products.

Customers, he said, will also have the opportunity to purchase products at the plant itself with the reopening of the plant’s storefront – which will open in early November.

“Opening the storefront will bring a lot more customers to Algoma that will stop on their way to Door County,” he said. “Come and see us – we want to be your No.1 bird food supplier with all of our products now and the future ones to come.”

For more information on Havegärd, visit havegardbirdseed.com.