Fresh (LVMH)

Last Updated: March 1, 2024

How Ethical Is Fresh (LVMH)?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here’s a summary of Fresh’s ethics and initiatives.

Ethical Analysis

Is Fresh cruelty-free or vegan? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Fresh’s policies.
Fresh is NOT Cruelty-Free. Fresh engages in animal testing by allowing its products to be animal-tested.

Fresh is also owned by LVMH, a parent corporation that does engage in animal testing.
Yes, Fresh sells its products in stores in mainland China under conditions where animal testing is still legally required.
Fresh does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Fresh engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by Fresh to be vegan anyways.

Fresh (LVMH)

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Is Fresh Cruelty-Free?

☠️ Fresh is NOT cruelty-free in 2023. Fresh allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, including when selling in stores in mainland China.

Fresh’s Animal Testing Policy

When asking, does Fresh test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Fresh’s ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

To assess whether brands are cruelty-free, I always start with the company’s official animal testing policy on their website.

On Fresh’s US website, they claim that they do not test their products or ingredients on animals. However, their Hong Kong website says otherwise.

See below for a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Fresh’s US website:

I managed to stumble upon Fresh’s Hong Kong website, and everything was in Chinese, but I used Google Translate and was surprised to see a different animal testing statement than what’s currently stated on their US website.

See below for a screenshot of what Google translated from Fresh’s HK website:

On Fresh’s Hong Kong FAQ page, it says the company does not test on animals, except where required by law.

Policies stating, “except where required by law,” usually imply the company is selling its products in mainland China. That’s because cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by law to be tested on animals.

So I reached out to Fresh to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. More specifically, I wanted to know if they allow their products to be tested on animals when selling in countries that require animal testing (like mainland China).

Fresh responded by saying:

“Our products are made in Europe and USA, and for imported cosmetics the Chinese health authorities require companies to make their products available to the authorities to be tested in state-certified laboratories for registration purposes only, as it is currently their only recognized method to demonstrate product safety. These tests are not carried out by us, but by the Chinese authorities.”

Is Fresh Sold in China?

Yes. Fresh confirmed in their email response to me that they do sell in China. Additionally, I found their Chinese website, and their store locator shows several results in mainland China. See below for a couple of screenshots:

But Doesn’t China No Longer Test on Animals?

With the recent changes to China’s animal testing laws, cosmetic companies can now export and sell some of their cosmetics in China without animal testing only if they meet ALL of the following preconditions first.

  • ONLY sell ‘general’ cosmetics (like makeup, skincare, haircare, nail polish, and perfumes)
  • must NOT sell any ‘special’ cosmetics like sunscreens, hair dye, hair perming, or other cosmetics claiming new efficacy
  • must NOT sell products designed for infants or children
  • must NOT sell products that contain a ‘New Cosmetic Ingredient’
  • AND if post-market testing is required, then the company must have a policy in place where it will RECALL its products rather than allow its products to be tested on animals

Also, products must meet ONE of the following in order to avoid animal testing in China:

  • manufactured in China, or the final assembly is in China
  • if manufactured outside of China and then exported to China, companies must obtain the proper product safety certificates and documents

However, it’s not stated anywhere that Fresh has taken any steps to meet the above preconditions in order to avoid animal testing while selling in China.

Follow the highlighted lines in the graphic below to see why most cosmetics sold in China (like Fresh) are still required by law to be tested on animals in 2023.

Because Fresh has decided to sell in mainland China stores, they must consent and pay to have their products tested on animals. That’s why most cosmetics brands selling in mainland China cannot be considered cruelty-free in 2023.

Although Fresh may not be conducting these animal tests themselves, they knowingly allow Chinese authorities to test their products on animals in order to sell in China.

For those reasons, we would not consider Fresh to be cruelty-free by our standards.

☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️

Cruelty-Free Policies

Many truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell their products in China under conditions where animal tests may be required. Unfortunately, Fresh refuses to do the same and therefore cannot be considered cruelty-free.

At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, or by any third parties, including when required by law.

See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist. Since Fresh already does not meet the last two, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Complete Cruelty-Free Checklist

Is Fresh Certified Cruelty-Free?

Fresh is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Since Fresh is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is substantiating or auditing Fresh’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

Is Fresh Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. Fresh is owned by LVMH, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2023.

Some cruelty-free consumers may choose to purchase and support cruelty-free brands owned by animal-tested parent corporations as they hope it will convince the parent company to become cruelty-free.

But in this case, Fresh is NOT cruelty-free, and neither is its parent corporation, LVMH.

Does Fresh Test on Animals?

To wrap up, Fresh allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, like when selling in China. Therefore, we would NOT consider Fresh to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, Fresh is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is Fresh Vegan?

Fresh is NOT vegan. Fresh does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Fresh engages in animal testing in some capacity, we wouldn’t consider any Fresh products vegan anyways.

In order for products to be considered vegan by ethical elephant’s standards, the products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals anywhere in the world. Also, they must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Fresh:

Looking for a cruelty-free alternative to Fresh? We recommend the following cruelty-free skincare brands:

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What do you think

6 thoughts on “Fresh (LVMH)”

  1. The FAQ has been changed. It only says “fresh does not test products on animals” then It goes on to say that they don’t test the raw material on animals either. Additionally, they are working on formulating new methods of testing products without testing on animals so more companies will become cruelty free!

  2. Lianne (my friend’s email but we both use.. :/)

    Can u update this page again? Fresh changed their FAQ reply since then but i still want to know if they’re tryting to avoid and hiding that they still test or they no longer test and are actually cruelty free (sorry about my grammar! English is my 3rd language 🙂

  3. Please look into this and do an update. This is now what the Fresh website states:

    Q: WHAT IS FRESH’S POSITION ON ANIMAL TESTING?

    A: Fresh does not test our products on animals.

    We are deeply committed to the elimination of animal testing. We are playing a leading role in developing alternative methods through our support of the “Fund for Alternatives to Animal Testing” in the United States. We also actively participate in validation studies of new alternative tests in the framework of the European cosmetics association, Cosmetics Europe.

    We are one of only a few companies to have invested in creating our own internal department specifically dedicated to alternative methods applicable to the safety evaluation of raw materials and cosmetic products, in order to ensure both total control over raw materials and complete security of cosmetic products for consumers, which is our top priority.

    As a result, all Fresh products undergo very strict tolerance tests using non-animal methods during the development of each product to ensure quality and safety prior to market.

    1. Hey Whit,
      Thanks for letting me know about their updated animal testing statement. I’ve just updated this post and sadly, despite Fresh’ recent update to their animal testing statement… they are still choosing to sell in Mainland China and they are making the claim that “we” don’t test on animals.. but the Chinese labs are doing the testing for us which is just a loophole. Their products are tested on animals and cannot be considered cruelty-free.

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