Our Story
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Who are we?
HNL are a husband and wife team, supported by our close family, primarily serving, albeit not exclusively, customers in and around East Lancashire, the Ribble Valley and into North and West Yorkshire; we couldn’t really ask for nicer delivery routes. Our roots are as Lancastrian as the hills that provide the backdrop to our working days, and that’s why we love living and working where we do. Who wouldn’t?
What do we offer?
As our name states, HNL Pet Food Supplies have only one aim and that is to provide the pets that we feed with a healthy nurtured life, hence why all our dog and cat foods are from our specially formulated “Nurture” range.
How?
By using our combined knowledge to ensure that only the best quality ingredients on the market are sourced and used in our chosen recipes. When we say meat, we mean meat.
We believe that knowledge is key and we’ve gained our knowledge of the industry from first hand experience; not always good experience either…It all began with a trip to the vets with our Border collie cross, Sable, who was suffering from swollen ears and constantly scratching and biting her feet until they bled. The Vet diagnosed an allergy to grass and said the only prescription for relief to this allergy was by means of a course of steroids, this then became the norm and she was on them permanently. This was extremely expensive and really did put pressure on a household with four young children, but as responsible pet owners we always made sure that she was comfortable no matter what the expense. This short term extreme remedy lead to eventual multi organ failure, as the high dose of steroids damaged her kidneys and Liver functions; she had a massive heart attack and died prematurely.
Eventually we acquired another dog, Lexie, a West Highland Terrier, who came from a reputable breeder and was free of any problems. After approximately two years, the problems began and she too was scratching and losing her coat, so we made an appointment with the Vet. The Vet, once again, diagnosed an allergy to grass; we found this unbelievable, as surely that's like saying fish are allergic to water? We couldn't accept this diagnosis and decided to look elsewhere for a solution, as we felt we were the common denominator.It was during this period that we were advised to look at the food we were feeding Lexie and to this end we started researching. I was directed towards a Breeder who had extensive knowledge of food ingredients and their associated benefits and or problems. They first requested sight of the ingredients label from the food we were feeding and very quickly pointed out certain things we should be aware of and definitely avoid.We were advised that the term “derivatives” meant ’any part of any animal that had had blood running through its veins, meaning a whole chicken carcass (including feathers, beak etc)’ could be rendered down and described broadly as ”Chicken content”. We were also advised that a lot of dogs are Gluten intolerant, especially wheat gluten, which is commonly used in dog and cat foods. We followed this advice and sourced a food that matched their recommendation; the result was almost instantaneous and over the period of a few weeks, Lexie’s coat was showing definite signs of improvement and all scratching and paw biting had stopped. RESULT! one happy dog and happy owners.
What good then is knowledge if it isn’t shared?
There’s no room for nonsense at HNL; our labels are honest and true because we want our customers to know what they are putting in their pet’s bowls. We’d even go as far as to say that it almost smells good enough to eat! (Not recommended for humans).
A reputable brand is important to us as consumers, so that is why after almost 20 years of working with a trusted brand, whilst at the same time studying small animal Nutrition, we took the decision to develop our own pet food range - a range that we know you can trust.
We’ve built our small, growing business on maintaining trusted working partnerships with our customers and our manufacturers; sometimes it is about listening and learning until the right food is found for the pet, and we wouldn’t be here today without the trust and support of our customers…and their faithful four-legged friends, of course.
We look forward to sharing our brand with you and your pets…without the nonsense!
Howard, Janet & Family.