Houral’s Angels
After we accepted that wonderful donation of cat food from Lunuel from Houral’s Food, we decided to find out a little bit more about the business. Because such kind and generous people do not come along everyday and because their wonderful donation helped feed our refuge and others for several weeks, we wanted to do something for them.
So here is a little bit more about Lunuel, his girlfriend Cassandra and Houral’s online food store business, very kindly written by Shirley, and published by Rob. Between them they manage all our website and I.T for us, and keep us ticking along nicely online!
Family Run Business
Shirley : Good afternoon Lunuel. Thanks for allowing us to have this chat to find out a little bit more about you. I’ll get the personal stuff out of the way first if that’s OK. So, can I just ask how old you are and how long you have been involved in Houral’s Food?
Lunuel : Hello. I am 22 years old and have been running Houral’s Food (an online pet shop) for almost 3 years.
Houral’s Food was originally set up by my uncle, but just as a dog food retailer. I have always wanted to start my own business as I really enjoy taking on new challenges. So I offered to take over part of his project, to develop it further and help improve it. So we went from being a dog food retailer to an online pet shop, selling several different brands of dog and cat food as well as treats and toys.
Animal Lovers
Shirley : Wow, that sounds like you have plenty to keep you busy. Being in the pet food business, and making such a wonderful donation to Chats de Châtillon, I’m guessing you love animals. Do you have any pets of your own?
Lunuel : Yes me and Cassandra, my girlfriend, both love animals. I have two Bernese Mountain Dogs – Cally and Lira. And Cassandra has a cat called George. She adores animals and loves looking after them, when she is not helping me with work.
Shirley : So what is the story behind your very generous donation to the Chats de Châtillon Refuge? And I believe you also made donations to the Red Cross, is that right?
Lunuel : When I started working with my Uncle I checked through all of the stock. I noticed on some that they were getting close to the ‘Best Before’ dates and I knew we would not be able to sell everything. None of it had been opened and it was good quality pet food. So rather than throw it away it made sense to donate it to a worthy cause. We contacted several associations, including Chats de Châtillon. Some refused to take any of it, but when we spoke to Judy she was so kind to us and very grateful of our offer. Both me and Cassandra were touched by the Chat de Châtillon refuge and the love that Judy puts into saving and caring for all her cats.
Red Cross
As for the Red Cross, that was my grandmother’s suggestion. She works for the Red Cross and told me that many people in need have pets, but that it was rare to get donations of pet food, even though it was asked for. So we contacted the Red Cross in Poitiers and they were more than happy to take some of it.
After speaking to both of these associations we decided to prioritise donations to the Châtillon cats and to the Red Cross. It was wonderful to meet Judy and Alan and to find out more about the good work that they do. We even had one of their cats come over to see what was going on. I think secretly Cassandra was hoping she could take it home with us!
Shirley : Well, thank you so much for chatting with us today Lunuel and for contacting Judy. I hope your business continues to go from strength to strength. And when Cassandra decides to get another cat, you know where to get come!
Lunuel : It’s been a pleasure. We are so pleased to have been able to help Judy and all the cats and kittens in her wonderful care. Thank you for your time. I would just like to add that for anyone who is a friend of the refuge, if they order from our website delivery is free on orders over 50€. Plus they can use a discount code to get a further 5% off their orders. They just need to use the code ‘chatsdechatillon’ when they are completing the order online*. We hope this helps to feed lots more little pets.
*Voucher code ‘chatsdechatillon’ can only be used on the website – https://www.houralsfood.fr