I’m Joshua Small, founder of Kito.
Daily sun protection is one of the most evidence-backed things you can do for your skin, yet the category that sells it hasn’t earned the trust it asks for. Kito is my answer: a mineral sunscreen built around chitosan, a fungal-origin biomaterial, and designed to be honest about what it is, what it does and where it comes from. It launches in 2027.
I spent fifteen years growing consumer brands across the UK, US and Australia, consulting for specialty coffee roasters, and, along the way, photographing bands, people and parties around the world.
I believe the way we make and sell things is one of the clearest expressions of what we value. Every product is a series of choices: what goes in, who makes it, what gets left behind. Those choices are rarely forced. Most of the time the better option is there; it just asks a bit more of you. I’d rather build businesses that take that option, and tell people honestly when they can’t. That’s how trust gets earned, and trust is worth more than almost anything a brand can sell.
That’s why Kito joined 1% for the Planet before we’d sold a single jar. From our first sale, 1% of our sales goes to environmental causes. It’s a promise made while it’s still easy to keep, so it’s already there when it gets harder.
For anything Kito, drop me a line at josh@wearkito.co.uk
JS
