Ananas Anam, the company that launched Piñatex in 2013 – a material made from pineapple leaves and presented as a plant-based alternative to leather – has gone bankrupt. It is the latest in a long line of ‘alternatives’ to leather that have failed. Why is this happening?
by Massimiliano Viti
Another one bites the dust. Ananas Anam, the company that launched Piñatex in 2013 – a material made from pineapple leaves and presented as a plant-based alternative to leather – has gone bankrupt like some of its ‘illustrious’ predecessors. The stories of many Next Gen materials are, in fact, very similar. They are marked by the launch of the product, accompanied by many promises, often followed by successful fundraising. Then there is a period of silence, difficulties arise, and bankruptcy ensues.
The parable of Next Gen materials
Over the last 10 years, many biomaterial projects have been launched as vegan or eco-friendly substitutes for leather (often derived from mushrooms, pineapples, cacti or vegetable waste). However, those that achieved minimal market penetration did not make it past the industrial or commercial phase due to various issues. Their trajectory mirrors that of the market. 2021 and 2022 – the post-Covid seasons in which the market boomed – were golden years for Next Gen materials. Perhaps not coincidentally, 2024 and 2025 were difficult years, with the market focusing more on substance and price/quality ratio, putting sustainability (even presumed sustainability) on the back burner because it entails higher costs that the end consumer is unwilling to pay.
One knockout after another
Some headlines that appeared in Sourcing Journal are emblematic of this trend. On July 23, 2021, it ran the headline ‘The boom in the biomaterials sector’. On January 9, 2025, it asked: ‘Will Next Gen materials find success this year?’ The answer came in recent weeks. It is: no. “To say that 2024 was a difficult year for Next Gen materials innovators would be an understatement,” wrote Sourcing Journal. In reality, 2024 was only the first sign of a disastrous 2025. With Mylo (2023) and Renewcell (2024) having failed, the Next Gen materials movement was placing a lot of faith in Mirum, produced by NFW – Natural Fibre Welding, which had grown to 300 employees by 2022.
But in mid-September 2025, the US company decided to scale back production to a minimum. A month later, MycoWorks announced its decision to close the plant because ‘there are cheaper sources of mycelium’. MycoWorks is the company that invented Reishi, the material derived from mushroom mycelium that was then processed in a tannery in Igualada, Spain. MycoWorks will no longer cultivate mycelium but will instead purchase it from elsewhere and focus solely on tanning. This transition has led to the closure of its factory.
The latest is Piñatex
Another 15 days pass, and more bad news arrives. In other words, it turns out that Ananas Anam, the company that produces Piñatex, has been seeking administration since 19 August 2025. The Spanish company had also explored the possibility of a sale. Three offers had been received, the first of which was from fruit giant Del Monte. Nothing doing. In recent months, according to industry sources cited by Modaes, Piñatex had tried to outsource material production and remain solely a fibre manufacturer. All attempts failed. It was impossible to rectify a very difficult financial situation.
Why do they fail?
Why are these Next Gen materials not gaining traction? Production costs are significantly higher compared to those of leather or traditional synthetics. Difficulties in industrial scalability (the materials only work in laboratories or small production runs). Low mechanical resistance (cutting, sewing, wear) and, therefore, lower durability than leather or quality synthetics. Ecological contradictions and greenwashing: many contained plastics, resins or PU. Unstable demand: the market quickly abandoned materials that did not perform well or were ‘green only on paper’. Media attention quickly waned.
Furthermore, in Europe, driven by political considerations, technologies for textile recycling have been developed, largely overshadowing alternatives based on other products. Modaes quotes an anonymous industry expert who says that the main problem with Next Gen materials is also one of production volumes. “The big companies are betting on capsule collections, which represent a very small percentage of the total collection. We are seeing a general decline in business for companies. When retailers suffer, they close their doors, and the ones that suffer the most are the start-ups that bring these innovations to market.”
Read also:
- Renewcell’s failure: what happens to the next-gen materials?
- The fairy tale without a happy ending of Mylo the Alternative
- The consequence of asking questions about next-gen materials