Dole moves toward zero waste goal as repurposed pineapple leaves find their way to lifestyle brands

The Dole Sunshine Company is partnering with Ananas Anam, the London-based company behind Piñatex, a vegan and natural alternative to leather made from sustainably sourced pineapple leaf fibres. Through the collection and extraction of fibre from pineapple leaves from its farms in Philippines, one of the largest pineapple plantations in the world, Dole is taking another step toward its promise of zero fruit loss by 2025.

“At Dole, we believe purpose – and therefore our promise – must permeate everything we do to address these global challenges head on. Addressing food waste is absolutely important to us, as it is connected to our business and our lives in so many ways,” said Pier-Luigi Sigismondi, global president, Dole Sunshine Company.

Through this partnership, Ananas Anam’s Piñatex is made of fibre extracted from Dole’s harvested pineapple plant leaves, which when dried and processed create a non-woven mesh to form the base of the sustainable material. The use of the pineapple leaf fibre also presents the opportunity to build a scalable commercial industry for developing farming communities and livelihood improvement for small scale co-operatives/growers.

Piñatex has been used by global lifestyle brands including Nike, Hugo Boss, H&M, Paul Smith and the Hilton Hotel London Bankside for the world’s first vegan suite.