Ananas Anam was launched in 2013 with a substitute to leather made from pineapple leaves.
Lack of volume, a business model that is difficult to scale and a sustainability crisis in the sector is the cocktail that has taken Ananas Anam, the first Spanish next gen, by storm. With Piñatex, a vegetable substitute for leather, as its flagship, the company was the first benchmark in the Spanish next-generation materials sector, and the first to try to become an ingredient brand under the umbrella of its star product: pineapple.However, the company has filed for insolvency proceedings, suffering from a problem that seems to be endemic in next-generation companies: the impossibility of scaling up the business.
As with Renewcell, the Spanish next gen promise seems to have come to an end, having filed the equivalent of an insolvency proceeding for the parent company in the UK and with its Spanish subsidiary on the verge of liquidation. A failed attempt to change its customer from brands to industrialists, the lack of demand or even the reputational risks of using food in production are some of the main reflections of the sector around the Piñatex crash.
The company, founded by Carmen Hijosa in 2013, came to convince industry giants such as Nike, H&M or even Inditex, as well as companies specializing in sustainability such as Ecoalf. The scalability of these orders, however, was not enough, and many of these collaborations remained there, in fleeting and short-lived deals. "This is a very difficult sector if you do not get the support of a large retailer, you need a big brand to bet on you and the belief that you have a special product," industry sources explain to Modaes.
Piñatex was a pioneer in communication among the 'next gen' but its agreements with brands failed to scale
As all the sources consulted, who prefer not to be named, agree, the main problem is also one of volume: "the bet of the big companies is on capsule collections, which represent a very small percentage of the total of the entire collection," they say. These capsules serve, in most cases, to carry out marketing actions, something in which Piñatex stood out since its founding, being one of the first companies in its segment to work, for example, communication on Instagram.
Convincing brands to introduce next gen fibers in their collections is, in fact, the great barrier for companies in the sector, which depend on such willingness of the giants to evolve from start-ups to consolidated companies. In its more than ten years of history, Piñatex has changed its allies to do so, moving from a business model focused on brands to one focused on industrialists.
Proof of this was its agreements with textile companies such as Textil Santanderina, for example." We are working on finding the right partners to implement our strategy and get to where we want to be," said the next-generation Spanish company, which eventually began to diversify its business beyond vegetable leather to include yarn production.
In recent months, according to industry sources, Piñatex had been trying to outsource leather production and, therefore, the commercial relationship with brands. Thus, Piñatex's objective was to remain as a fiber producer, so that other companies would take the leap forward in production and assume the commercial risk.
The company was focused on outsourcing leather production and remaining only as a fiber producer, reducing the commercial risk
For another businessman in the sector, however, the fall of Piñatex is a reflection of a more serious situation in the market. "We are seeing a generalized fall in the business of companies, and when retailers suffer, they cut the tap, and the ones that suffer most are the start-ups that bring these innovations to the market," explains the expert.
Although, for the moment, the sustainable bet of fashion companies does not seem to have slowed down, the handbrake that Brussels has put on in terms of legislation or the presence of Donald Trump in the White House, an open climate change denier, have the potential to reduce the importance of sustainability within the business of companies.
Although Ananas Anam's "secret" to producing its alternative materials was the use of pineapple leaves, which are traditionally discarded in food sector processes, the potential reputational risk associated with influencing the food price market makes fashion wary of investing in these materials, the same entrepreneur explains. Something similar, he says, happened with the sector's first incursions into the use of corn for the production of textile fibers, which resulted in a price increase, endangering the supply of this grain, which is widely used in Latin America, for the population.
The boom in textile recycling has also played a part in the puncture of materials such as Piñatex, which "have not been able to fit into the market", reflects a competitor. The priority of using the feedstock available in the sector to "close the circle of waste", together with the expected requirements for the use of recycled fiber to be implemented by the European Union in terms of eco-design, has also contributed to the collapse of materials such as Piñatex, which "have not been able to fit into the market", reflects a competitor.The priority of using the sector's own available feedstock to "close the waste loop", together with the expected requirements for the use of recycled fiber to be implemented by the European Union in terms of eco-design , have driven the development of textile recycling technologies, leaving aside, in turn, alternatives based on external products, as has happened, for example, with plastic bottles.
Ananas Anam officially entered into insolvency proceedings in August of this year, after more than a decade in operation and several years with rising red numbers. The decision came despite three bids to take control of the company, which at the end of 2023 posted losses of £1.14 million (€1.3 million). One of the bids was from the giant pineapple producer Del Monte.
Piñatex, or parent company Ananas Anam UK, was born in 2013 from Hijosa's hand. Currently, 56.4% of the capital is shared among the company's main investors: the Luxembourg investment firm Haltra Group, Bruno de Penanster, the company's CFO, Hijosa itself and French Compagnie Fruitière, one of Europe's largest fruit producers. The remaining capital is held by minority investors, who own no more than 2.6% each.
Although the company undertook several rounds of financing, which led, for example, to the entry of a Luxembourg fund, the company was in a growth phase while demand for its product was developing, which meant that it was "unable to generate a profit". unable to generate cash flow from operations and in need of ongoing investment," states the UK Companies House document on the company's insolvency.
In December 2024, the company contacted Leonard Curtis, a firm specializing in the restructuring and recovery of companies in the United Kingdom, which determined that, if it did not obtain financing in the short term, "it would be at risk of insolvency". Following the firm's recommendation, Ananas Anam began to look for potential investors, the main one being the giant produce and fruit and vegetable distributor, especially pineapples, Del Monte.
The company injected 300,000 euros into the company while negotiations were underway, an investment that was joined in May of this year by another 100,000 euros from the already existing investor French Compagnie de France .100,000 from the already investor French Compagnie Fruitière, with the aim of "covering employees' salaries and reviewing the possibility of rescuing the company itself," the document states.
However, due to the company's financial pressures, Del Monte decided not to take over the company, which, together with the visible impossibility for the company to obtain new financing in the short term, accelerated the process of finding buyers for Ananas Anam. Subsequently, and prior to its entry into insolvency proceedings, the company received two other offers, neither of which was successful. The first involved the acquisition of only the company's intangible assets, while the second, although higher, was subject to the company obtaining additional financing to continue operating.
"Although negotiations continued, the company's financial situation continued to deteriorate and it was unable to continue its business activities, so the decision was made to place the company in receivership on August 19, 2025," the bankruptcy document explains.
Ananas Anam UK ended the 2023 financial year with a turnover of £240,849 (€257,664), compared to £419,849 (€480,538) the previous year. Its Spanish subsidiary, on the other hand, closed the 2023 financial year with a turnover of 518,515 euros, 20.4% less than the previous year. In addition to the parent company's loss of more than one million euros, Ananas Anam Spain also posted a loss of a further 1.03 million euros.