Dole takes another step towards zero-waste by partnering with Ananas Anam

The Dole Sunshine Company announced its partnership with Ananas Anam, the London-based company behind Pinatex®, an innovative, natural, and vegan alternative to leather derived from sustainably sourced pineapple leaf fibers.

Dole is not only taking another step toward its Promise of zero fruit loss by 2025 by collecting and extracting fiber from pineapple leaves from its farms in the Philippines, one of the world’s largest pineapple plantations, but it is also contributing to a world where sustainable material alternatives are becoming increasingly important as global lifestyle brands look for these alternatives.

Dole, which unveiled its six-pronged Promise in June 2020, is dedicated to reducing food waste, eliminating processed sugar and plastics, and enhancing global nutrition availability. Dole is striving towards a more circular economy and discovering innovative packaging options for its goods, in addition to its cooperation with Ananas Anam, to decrease not just food waste but also pollution.

Pier-Luigi Sigismondi, Dole Sunshine Company’s worldwide president, said that at Dole, they think that purpose – and hence their Promise – must pervade all they do in order to confront these global issues. Food waste is really important to them because it is intertwined with their company and their lives in so many ways. He thinks that in order to solve this issue with practical solutions and true systemic change, they must combine their mission with creativity, innovation, and technology. Their collaboration with Ananas Anam, as well as the usage of this technology by major lifestyle brands, brings this convergence to life in a whole new way.

Ananas Anam’s Piatex® is constructed of fiber extracted from Dole’s harvested pineapple plant leaves, which, when dried and treated, creates a non-woven mesh that serves as the foundation for the sustainable material. The use of pineapple leaf fiber also offers the possibility of establishing a scalable commercial enterprise for the development of farming communities and the enhancement of small-scale cooperatives and producers’ livelihoods.

Dr. Carmen Hijosa, Founder and Chief Creative & Innovation Officer of Ananas Anam, said that at Ananas Anam, they strive to address the problems of their day by creating new goods that combine economic success with social, ecological, and cultural growth and encourage it. They construct ecosystems that are connected together, symbiotically evolve together in order to bring about great changes in the world by engaging on a deep level with the individuals they deal with.

Melanie Broye-Engelkes, CEO of Ananas Anam, said that through their relationship with Dole, their Philippine company will have access to a significantly greater amount of pineapple leaf fibers, allowing them to fulfill the growing demand for Pinatex® not just in the fashion industry, but also in the upholstery and automotive industries. Working closely with Dole’s local teams will enable them to have a more positive social effect among agricultural communities while also reducing their environmental footprint by valorizing waste at scale.