Dole Sunshine Company, which produces shelf-stable fruits, has partnered with Ananas Anam to repurpose its pineapple leaves, furthering its commitment to zero food waste by 2025.
Under the partnership with Ananas Anam, pineapple leaves from Dole’s farms in the Philippines – one of the largest pineapple plantations in the world – will be reproduced into Pinatex, a natural textile made from waste pineapple leaf fibre, and other sustainable materials such as cork.
“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 at Dole Sunshine Company.
“Our partnership with Ananas Anam coupled with global lifestyle brands’ use of this innovation truly brings this convergence to life in a new way.”
The move is part of Dole’s efforts to commit to zero fruit loss by 2025. The company said it is also working towards a more circular economy and finding new packaging solutions for its products to reduce not only food waste, but its use of plastics.
“Through our partnership with Dole, our entity in the Philippines will access a much larger volume of pineapple leaf fibres, to meet the ever-increasing demand for Pinatex not only in fashion, but also in the upholstery and automotive sectors,” said Melanie Broye-Engelkes, CEO of Ananas Anam.
“Working closely with Dole’s teams on the ground will help us to create a wider positive social impact among farming communities and to continuously reduce our environmental footprint by valorising waste at scale”
Ananas Anam’s Pinatex has recently been used in Nike’s latest sustainable trainer collection. The material is also used by other global lifestyle brands including Hugo Boss, H&M, Paul Smith and the Hilton Hotel London Bankside for the world’s first vegan suite.
