In 2020, Dole Sunshine Company boldly re-centered their business operations by making five purposeful and public commitments towards creating a better world.

The most ambitious one: achieving zero fruit loss from operations by 2025.

It’s a big, bold promise to make, let alone keep in ten years, much less five.

Partnering with Ananas Anam did more than just help Dole get rid of pineapple leaves and help keep that promise. It revolutionized the fashion industry, with Piñatex being used by 1000 brands worldwide today.

• Situation

In 2020, Dole Sunshine Company made five purposeful commitments towards creating a better world. The most ambitious one: achieving zero fruit loss from operations by 2025.

No easy task, but it’s especially hard for Dole’s pineapple business, because for every ton of pineapple packaged packaged, three tons of leaves are left to rot in landfills, producing methane emissions 20x more harmful than CO2.

• Brief

Find a simple and scalable solution to help Dole work towards achieving zero fruit loss by 2025.

• Objectives

Create a sustainable solution for rotting pineapple leaves

Do right by the planet and its people

Partner with like-minded companies equally committed to the environment

• The business challenge the brand was facing

For many years, Dole has struggled with the issue of responsible disposal of pineapple leaves. With the self-imposed 2025 deadline looming, inventing a solution in-house was increasingly not an option. Partnering with an innovative company working towards a shared goal became the best and only one.

• Interpretation of the client needs and brand values

Dole is completely committed to improving the planet. However, they’ve long struggled with the issue of responsibly disposing pineapple leaves.

It’s a decades-old question that doesn’t have an overnight answer.

• Industry / target market

The target comes from two different sectors, but each share the same goal:

the fashion industry and clothes buyers, both of whom want material that’s sustainable, durable and environmentally-friendly.

• The desired outcome

Solving the longstanding problem of pineapple leaf waste in a way that benefits both the planet and its people.

Outline the strategic process used to tackle the problem

Once the commitment was made, Dole started from scratch, looking for partners and solutions to help them keep the promise. Eventually, a partnership with Ananas Anam was formed.

• How did you arrive at the insight?

Research showed that for every ton of pineapples harvested, three tons of leaves are wasted. The partnership addresses the problem of fruit loss, while giving farmers a new revenue stream and ensuring Piñatex literally has tons and tons of raw material to work with.

• Internal/external challenges faced

Mainly logistical obstacles, such as creating a supply chain to delivering then store pineapple leaves, as well as factory expansion to meet increasing demand – all good problems.

• The breakthrough moment

When Nike announced their "Happy Pineapple" sneakers would be made from Piñatex, the fashion world took notice, and more and more brands started using Piñatex.

Piñatex is a vegan, cruelty free, sustainable leather alternative made of pineapple leaves that would otherwise go to waste.

The manufacturing of Piñatex doesn’t use any water, any land or any fertilizers. Unlike other “vegan” leathers, Piñatex contains no plastic whatsoever and has no residual waste. Excess fibers are put back into the machine for use.

The path from old pineapple leaf to Piñatex fabric material checks every box on Dole's wish list

In just a very short time, Piñatex has grown into a game-changing solution that's now used by hundreds of fashion brands including Nike, H&M and Hugo Boss in over 90 countries worldwide.

• Business impact

Piñatex is a transformational innovation for Dole, Ananas Anam and the fashion industry at large.

By giving Ananas Anam access to much larger quantities of pineapple leaves, Dole helped Piñatex scale at lightning speed, helping them meet the sudden and increasing demands of brands around the globe.

Piñatex generates a new revenue stream for farmers.

• Change in behaviour or consumer awareness / value added to the brand

In a relatively short time, Piñatex has gone from an unknown fiber to a fabric that brands around the world are clamoring to use and one that consumers can’t wait to wear.

• The impact on the industry / culture

Thanks to Piñatex, fashion brands now have a sustainable, cruelty-free leather alternative to work with.

Today 1000 brands globally use Piñatex, including Nike.

United Nations selected Piñatex as a world class example of sustainable development through brand actions.

In 2020, Dole made a public promise to move towards zero fruit loss from Dole farms to its customers by 2025. By diverting fruit waste from landfills and repurposing it into new uses, Dole is fighting climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Working with Ananas Anam, Dole is reducing the amount of CO2 released into the air from landfills where old pineapple leaves would normally go after harvest. Turning waste into opportunity.