New Balance – Not Vegan?

New Balance Logo 2008

I think it is really important for clothing companies to disclose certain types of information about their products; really basic stuff they should know about their suppliers and manufacturers, such as whether they use child labor or what types of materials they’re .  Although I can understand why some companies would not WANT to disclose potentially incriminating information, there is no excuse for being uninformed about a simple question – do your shoes have animal products in them?

I got a surprising answer when I asked New Balance whether their shoes were vegan.  Some of them are constructed with a synthetic upper, so I just emailed them to ask whether there were other animals being used, in the glue perhaps.  Below is the email exchange:

Customer (Henry *******)
Dear New Balance,

I want to learn more about your vegan shoes. I saw that you make a lot of shoes with synthetic uppers but you don’t know what kind of glue is being used so you don’t know for sure if it’s completely vegan or not.

Is there any way of determining which factories use non-animal glues? Maybe you can track the ones coming out of those as being vegan. This is important to people like me, and knowing which products are animal friendly will factor into which shoes to buy. Please let me know if there is any more you can tell me.

Thanks so much!
Henry

Discussion Thread
Response (Consumer Response Team)
Dear Henry,

Thank you for contacting New Balance Consumer Support!

Unfortunately we are not capable of determining which factories use non-animal glues. While most of them probably don’t use them we cannot be 100 percent sure and we would not want to provide our customers with any misleading information. We truly apologize for not being able to provide you with this information.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns by email or phone at 800-622-1218.

Sincerely,

Sarah

New Balance Consumer Response Team

—

Not capable of determining which factories use non animal glue?  Not 100%?  I appreciate the honesty, and not wanting to mislead, but this is SUCH A COP OUT.  Don’t factories have quality control?  Doesn’t HQ work closely with the suppliers and manufacturers?  It seems disingenuous that they do not know exactly what goes into their shoes.  I would not expect this kind of ignorance from a international shoe company that sponsors world class athletes.  Very disappointing.

If you want to read there answer to this question on the New Balance website, click here.
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This entry was posted by Henry, on November 17th, 2009 and is filed under Brands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.

 
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One Response to “New Balance – Not Vegan?”

  1. Gravatar of All Non-Leather Nike Shoes Vegan? Something to be Thankful For! | Vegan Kicks All Non-Leather Nike Shoes Vegan? Something to be Thankful For! | Vegan Kicks
    27. November 2009 at 14:49

    [...] The boys in Beaverton done changed the game.  I figured Nike would be the last sneaker company to use non-animal products (By the way I’m not basing that opinion on any real evidence, just on the perception that Nike has partaken in evil deeds  in the past a la employing 8 year old Malaysian kids).  But, if this email is accurate and truthful, animal conscious shoppers everywhere can rejoice.  The choices of Nike vegan shoes are then multitude, given the growing trend towards using high-tech synthetic materials in their newest performance lines.  Though I am still searching for the elusive canvas (or synthetic) Dunk or Blazer, we have the likes of the Free and Trainer Larry Fitzgerald (pictured below).  If these aren’t your bag, I’m sure there are plenty of Nikes out there with synthetic uppers.  I just don’t have the strength to go through all of them.  But if any of you see some more SB’s or retro models, holler at me.  Oh, and New Balance – get your act together! [...]

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