The little tap of the pepper mill on the plate is often the last gesture of the hungry before devouring dinner. What if this was also the case for animals? In Montpellier (Hérault), the Truffle & Mustache company has imagined food supplements for dogs and cats that do not require (owners know!) formidable stratagems for them to take them. These are not tablets, to be hidden in a piece of cheese, so that the doggies see nothing but fire. And you will not be forced to wrap your cat in a bath towel, to immobilize him, so that he cannot do anything other than take his pill.
Sophie and Thomas Frangin have, in fact, developed a range… to be administered with a turn of the mill, as if you were seasoning the kibble. These entrepreneurship enthusiasts, who worked on astonishing projects before creating Truffle & Mustache (a reserve to protect rhinos and a hobbit bar, in particular!), finally stopped their limitless brainstorming when they realized to what extent there was a real need in the field of food supplements for animals.
It was before the Covid-19 crisis, in 2020. “We were preparing to move from Paris to Montpellier,” confided to 20 minutes Thomas Brother. Our cat, Leeloo, is very stressed in transport. We said to ourselves, “What if we gave him medicine?” But straight away, we were told “No, she’s too old, it’s too powerful a sedative, she might never wake up. Give her a food supplement instead.” »
Chic, easy to administer and all natural
But, despite intense research, the couple could not find satisfactory cures for Leeloo. “It wasn’t always very natural, we didn’t always know what we were really giving to our animal,” notes Thomas Frangin, who is, moreover, a former employee in the field of food supplements (for humans ). And above all, it was absolutely not practical. Tablets, potions to administer with pipettes… Everything that animals hate. Especially cats. “Cats are not dogs, they don’t give in!” You have to wrap them in a towel… To give them an anti-stress food supplement… Which stresses them out even more! »And what’s more, the packaging was “ugly”, smiles Thomas Frangin.
These entrepreneurs then imagine, with veterinarians and phytotherapists, a range of chic food supplements, easy to administer to pets, entirely natural, and made in France. In the form of mills, first. In particular a formula based on harpagophytum root of turmeric rhizome, designed to alleviate joint pain in dogs and cats.
But also an anti-stress remedy, with lemon balm and rhodiola root. Or another to improve the digestion and transit of animals, with oregano flower and coriander. A few turns of the mill on the kibble, mash or any other food ration prepared for animals, and that’s it. Neither seen nor known. “It sticks to any food!” », explains Thomas Frangin.
A range sold in France, but also abroad
The range, launched at the start of the first confinement, has never disappointed any master. Or almost. “For dogs, our product return rate is 0%,” continues the entrepreneur. A dog has never not eaten its bowl. » For cats, known to be much more difficult, “our product return rate is less than 1%,” he notes. That cats turn away from their bowl is “very rare. It’s so rare that we, if your pet doesn’t want it, it’s your money back guarantee. » Truffle & Mustache has also created a range in the form of balms, to apply to the skin, paw pads or nose, or vegetable oils, designed for the balance of four-legged companions.
The cures designed by this Montpellier-based company have been a real success since their launch a little over three years ago. Specialized shops, groomers, drugstores, and veterinarians, in France or abroad (Belgium, Netherlands, South Korea, etc.), offer their customers Truffle & Mustache products. This is the case of Romain Lassagne, a veterinary doctor in Esneux, near Liège, in Belgium, who tested it himself successfully, he says, with dogs or cats. And had satisfied feedback from owners. “We are very happy with it,” assures 20 minutes the veterinarian, who praises the simplicity of using these food supplements.