Pineapple leaves, an agricultural waste just left in the field to rot and refertilize the soil, is now an international commodity used in making shoes for Puma, car seats for luxury cars, bags and designer sofas and seats.
On Tuesday, in ceremonies at the Rizal Hall in Malacañang, President Rody Duterte proudly changed his black shoes made out of animal leather into a pair of comfortable brown sneakers made out of Pineapple leaves from Labo, Camarines Norte which were made in Spain.
The launching of Piñatex Leather as an alternative to the traditional leather made out of animal hides by President Duterte marks the start of a new industry using materials which were just thrown away or allowed to rot in the vast pineapple fields of the Philippines.
Pineapple fiber has been used in weaving the traditional Piña fabric but the demand for it is not huge as the market could not absorb a large volume.
So for decades now, pineapple leaves from over 60,000 hectares of pineapple planted by big corporations like Dole and Del Monte and by individual farmers were just left in the fields to rot.
A couple of years ago, however, a Spanish fashion designer, Carmen Hijosa, developed a technology which processed decorticated pineapple fiber into an organic leather product which she called Piñatex.
Through her efforts, Piñatex gained a market share in the shoe business when Puma started using it to manufacture its designer shoes, luxury car manufacturers for car seats, dashboard covers and roof insulators and expensive sala sets and chairs.
Last year, Carmen Hijosa was introduced to me by Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
Hijosa said she needed additional pineapple fiber but the farmers could not produce enough because they lacked the equipment like the decorticating machine and dryer to process the leaves.
While pineapple leaves were bought by fabric manufacturers for only P2 per kilo, Hijosa was buying decorticated and dried pineapple fiber for P300 per kilo.
While Hijosa was in Spain, I also talked to the officials of Dole Philippines including Carlos Mandojado, the corporation’s head for its Asia operations and asked them to allow farmers living beside their plantations to gather the leaves after the ripe pineapples are harvested.
Dole Philippines willingly agreed.
On Tuesday, several farmers groups from Camarines Norte, South Cotabato and Bukidnon received from President Duterte the certificates of ownership of the equipment they need to produce pineapple fiber.
Hijosa also gifted President Duterte with specially-made brown sneakers made out of Piñatex fiber and natural rubber which I propose should also come from the rubber farms of Filipino farmers.
With the huge demand in the market for Piñatex Leather now, the Philippines with the support of President Duterte will now be the biggest producer of the unique leather made out of pineapple leaves.
Thousands of farming families who plant pineapple and those who live beside the huge banana plantations will now have a source of income to lift them out of poverty.
This is a classic example of the saying: “May pera sa basura.” (There’s money in wastes.)
(Photos show President Duterte proudly wearing his new pair of shoes made out of Piñatex Leather and the farmers groups which received decorticating equipment from the Dept. of Agriculture and Fisheries. Other photos were taken in December last year when Carmen Hijosa visited the DAF office while the others were downloaded from public websites.)
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