Help us keep Auckland's only cat cafe going!

Formerly BaristaCats Cafe in the CBD, we have provided a place cat-mad and cat-curious people can visit to hang with our very special clowder of cats since December 2015. We took over the business in 2017 and when the lease ended in our city premise, we relocated to Birkenhead and reopened our doors October 2020. We also rebranded to PURRS & BEANS as we felt it was fitting and timely with this new chapter in the business' evolution.

As we all know, 2020 has been an unprecedented year due to the global pandemic but it has been incredibly tough especially if you're a small, independently run business that operates as a social enterprise. This is very much a passion project for us, with all proceeds (whether it's bookings, a gift voucher purchase, or simply a cup of coffee) going directly back towards the cats' care and continual running of the premises which is their forever home.

Of course, as is always the way, Covid hit our shores in the year we were wrapping up in the city and aiming to move to a new space. We had launched a PledgeMe crowdfunding campaign just a couple of months before we went into lockdown to raise much needed money to help us with this move. With everything going on in the world, we were worried we wouldn't be able to reach our target however you all came through for us! We were so blown away by everyone's love for our little business and their generosity - the move would have definitely not been possible without this support.

It's an amazing feeling to see our vision come to life in the new space but it has been a hard slog and we're not out of the woods yet. The pandemic has hit us hard - we were closed for a significant period of time in 2020 while still having to pay ongoing costs like rent and bills. Right now even though the virus is under control and life is almost back to normal under Alert Level 1, the reality is people now have less disposable income and we have lost our tourist customer base which has impacted greatly on our numbers. The money we raised via PledgeMe certainly helped us with the moving costs but to be honest it only scratched the surface. At this point, we have exhausted this as well as our personal funds.

We are so proud of the new premises and so far the feedback we've received from visiting guests has been overwhelmingly positive. We believe we have created a really pawsome space for our cats to live their best lives and we want to continue offering a place for people to hang out with our furry family. Additionally our new location has allowed us to be able to support rescues by having a dedicated adoption room available where we can foster cats and help find them their forever homes.

Help us keep our doors open by contributing towards Purrs & Beans' long term future so we can continue to provide a home for our cats. If you're in the position to do so we would really appreciate a donation. Otherwise please just tell everyone you know! In lieu of donating here, you can also support by simply booking in a session and visiting us. Everything you spend with us goes back towards our cats' ongoing care and the many costs associated with running a cat cafe.