L&C New York, Dole Sunshine Co., Ananas Anam are winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards. Explore the full list of projects we’re honoring for making the world more equitable, accessible, and sustainable.
Each ton of harvested pineapples generates three tons of leaves that go to waste. In 2020, New York creative agency L&C partnered with food giant Dole to address this problem. Together with marketing firm Peppercomm, they found a solution in Ananas Anam, the company created by textile entrepreneur Carmen Hijosa to commercialize her patented process for turning fibrous pineapple leaves into a vegan leather called Piñatex.
Ananas Anam (ananas is a Spanish word for pineapple) had been operating for seven years and needed more leaves. The partnership, made official in 2021, launched with an educational film that captured both the problem and the Piñatex solution and garnered more than 1.7 billion impressions. This partnership and campaign is the winner of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award in the Marketing and PR category.
Piñatex has been used by 1,000 brands worldwide, including Hugo Boss, H&M, and Nike (with its Happy Pineapple shoe collection). “It’s fantastic that something that was considered waste was on a Nike sneaker,” says Gian Lanfranco, L&C’s cofounder and CEO.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
