Bite Beauty Acquired by Kendo
One of the most recent cruelty free brands to be sold in Sephora is Bite Beauty. The number of cruelty free options available at Sephora stores is relatively small. Especially if you avoid parent companies who test on animals. Many avoid Sephora all together because their house line, manufactured by their sister company Kendo, is tested on animals. It has just been announced that Kendo has now purchased Bite Beauty.
This announcement has many concerned that Bite Beauty will now change its stance on animal testing. Kendo is a part of the LVMH company with a focus on expanding beauty brands into the global market. As the brand itself states,
“Kendo is developing and selling beauty brands & products, primarily through Sephora’s international network (Americas, Europe, Middle-East, Asia), both in stores and online. Kendo’s portfolio currently includes brands such as Marc Jacobs Beauty, Ole Henriksen, Formula X, Kat von D and several others. For a year, Kendo has been successfully launching an ambitious expansion plan to build several strong brands at a global level and has built a team to lead that expansion.“
According to a press release posted by Cosmetics Business, Susanne Langmuir, founder of Bite Beauty, said,
“I am thrilled to join Kendo, and to work with David and his team, to take Bite Beauty to the next level of growth and success. I am confident that with Kendo’s support, Bite can expand its presence well beyond what we have achieved today, to become a world recognized and highly desired brand in the prestige beauty market.”
In the past, reps at both Sephora and Kendo have told me that all brands produced by Kendo fall under the required by law animal testing stance. Where this situation may be different is that Bite Beauty was already an established beauty brand.
I have updated the list of cruelty free and vegan brands to list Bite Beauty as a Grey Area brand. I have also noted that they are owned by a parent company who tests on animals.
I have reached out to Bite Beauty to ask if they will be changing their animal testing stance. Hopefully I hear back from the brand soon and can let readers of Logical Harmony know if the brand itself has changed their stance on animal testing.
Hi Tashina
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication. It makes sholping for cruelty free a little more easy 🙂
I do have a question though in terms of Kendo and LVMH. No where (that I can find) shows that Kendo is owned by LVMH. On the main LVMH website, they show that they Sephora and Kenzo, but not Kendo. Even trying to look theough old press releases and quarterly result releases, I still have found nothing. A brief statement on kendo’s site shows the former CEO of Sephora left to join LVMH….but I cannot find any other money trails…any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Loretta,
If you go to Kendo’s website, their LinkedIn page, or their jobs page there are lots of references to it being owned by LVMH. The statement on their site means that the company of Kendo joined LVMH. From their site – “Kendo Holdings, Inc. is a San Francisco-based beauty brand developer and wholesaler owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group.”
Hi, Tashina.
I see that Bite Beauty is now in the Cruelty Free List, instead of the Grey Area one. Has their ownership changed, and are they now no longer owned by a non-cruelty free parent company? Thanks
Bite Beauty is still on the Leaping Bunny list, though?
They’re in the same situation as, for example, Burt’s Bees, which has Leaping Bunny certification despite their parent company not being cruelty free.
Shouldn’t Burt’s Bees therefore also be in the “grey area” section? Or vice-versa, shouldn’t Bite be allowed to be in the same list as Burt’s Bees? And what about Kat von D? Not on the Leaping Bunny list but still listed under Cruelty Free on your brands list (with the sidenote that their parent company is not CF). Shouldn’t this brand also be on the “grey area” list?
Your list seems inconsistent in this regard.
Hi Ashley,
Bite Beauty is in the Grey Area list not because they were acquired, but because since being acquired I have been unable to get any statement from them about if their animal testing policies have changed. This is different than Burt’s Bees, who has continued to be transparent and provide detailed information. And different than Kat Von D Beauty, who also went through the process to be listed here on Logical Harmony and provided plenty of details about their brand. The note next to Kat Von D Beauty is also noting that their parent company owns other brands who test, not that their parent company tests.
At the end of the day, if Bite Beauty will not talk to me about their animal testing practices I am just not comfortable promoting them as cruelty free. I hope this helps explain things better.
:'( this is so disheartening, it’s almost like every single time I go back to double check if a brand is still cruelty-free, chances are, they’re not anymore. UGH. Pure frustration…
Well that’s just craptastic!
Makes me so mad. I wish it was illegal to buy off so many brands and get so big as a company. Also it is so hard for a small indie brand to compete against such huge billion dollar companies. Oh well just my 2 cents…
It seems as if there’s no end to the procuring of larger indie brands!