Ananas Anam: Disrupting the Textile and Fashion Industries
So, what have I been up to in my MBA program? Well, so far I’m loving digging deep into various academic topics but also exploring real-world examples. I put a lot of effort into my work, and it seems like a waste for it to only be seen by my professor and live on my hard drive when the assignment is over. So, for the work that I find particularly interesting, I’ll share here so others can maybe gain some insight.
My first big assignment was to discuss sustainable entrepreneurship. Check out my case study of Ananas Anam, a company I learned about and followed on Facebook all the way back on April 25, 2018. I have still never purchased anything made from their products, but I wanted to keep them on my radar out of sheer interest. I’m so glad I did because they were the perfect subject for this case study!
I may never have been a fashion blogger or influencer, but if I can leverage my marketing skills and cover my interest in fashion in an academic setting, that’s good enough for me.
One industry that seemingly will never allow new source material products to rise to popularity is the fashion industry. The fashion industry does more than simply provide garments for practical purposes; it is a method for self-expression via visual communication and signaling social status. Because natural materials like leather or linen are more durable and higher quality, but also because of their cost to manufacture, they are considered the optimal materials to use in finished garment goods.
But, for consumer brands that are creating products to sell at a lower price point, they often have to turn to lower-cost but synthetic materials like polyester or leather alternatives. In the case of leather alternative products, they are typically some kind of PVC or polyurethane and simply do not have the same durability as actual leather goods, because they can come apart when cleaned and can be hard to repair.
Brands have tried to position leather alternatives as a desirable product, labeling them as “vegan leather” because of consumer sentiment against using animal products in their clothing or accessories. But though the vegan leather alternatives don't harm animals, they are often unsustainable for the planet because the textiles are made of plastics. In addition, products made from the leather alternative textiles don't last as long, and end up in a landfill and drive demand for more production to replace the broken product.
Ananas Anam offers a fantastic solution to the leather alternative sustainability problem with their Piñatex product. It is a leather alternative, but it is made almost entirely from natural materials - pineapple leaves. It reports that the original collection of Piñatex is 70% (plus or minus 2%) pineapple leaf fibers, 20% polylactic acid which comes from corn, and 10% polyurethane, but up to half of the polyurethane comes from sustainable sources. The pineapple leaves that make up Piñatex are a waste byproduct from pineapple farming. Pineapple leaves are often left to burn or rot, so this prevents carbon emissions by diverting them into something new and replaces less sustainable material options. The Ananas Anam 2021 Impact Report cites that in that year, the company prevented “267 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere” (Ananas Anam, 2021).
Ananas Anam finds itself in an interesting intersection within the fashion industry. Piñatex is a leather alternative. But, the company paves the way for Piñatex to be a more successful leather alternative by branding the textile and positioning itself as its own unique product, rather than an imitation of something else.
The company itself is appealing to those who value both cruelty-free fashion products and sustainability, and creates a product that fills that previously unmet need. Ananas Anam is a certified B-Corporation and has initiatives in fair trade practices for the farmers that cultivate the raw resources they buy.
Ananas Anam’s Marketing Strategy
Ananas Anam’s marketing strategy contributes to its success in two key ways. First, it reinforces their commitment to sustainability. Second, it positions itself as a player in the fashion space by partnering with the brands that make the end product.
Ananas Anam communicates the sustainability theme in its marketing with its Impact Report and its social media channels. The Impact Report goes into detail about the company and highlights its work in sustainability and labor practices. Ananas Anam then disseminates that information on its social media channels like its Instagram and LinkedIn. Even in visual posts that demonstrate the product, the post copy will often reference sustainability, which reinforces the values of the brand. For a social entrepreneurship venture, it’s key to stay true to the mission, and Ananas Anam demonstrates how staying true to its mission is a marketing strategy that resonates with its consumers.
The other aspect to its marketing strategy is its leveraging of partnerships. Internationally known brands such as CAT, Nike, and Zara have collaborated with Ananas Anam to use Piñatex in their products. Ananas Anam also has a collaboration with Calvin Klein with their Piñayarn product. This allows the product and brand to get free press coverage from industry publications, as well as organic social media reach and impressions. These two channels can build credibility and brand awareness which drives demand at a low cost for Ananas Anam.
Their partnership with Zara is unique since Zara is considered a fast-fashion brand, which is known for its environmental impact and lack of sustainability. By partnering with a brand to allow it to be more sustainable, it generated buzz; the announcement Instagram post launching Piñatex has 2,285 Instagram Likes as of July 22, 2023, greatly outperforming the brand’s own typical engagement benchmarks of between 100 and 400 Likes per post.
Though Ananas Anam does not sell finished products made from Piñatex, their social media feed highlights products made with it – shoes, purses, furniture – both from their internationally known partner brands but also smaller designers. That drives demand from consumers to the fashion brands that purchase the material from Ananas Anam, which increases demand for their product from the intermediary brands.
Partnering with other brands allows Ananas Anam to scale because the partner brands are the intermediary between Ananas Anam and the general consumer, and the brands already have built loyal consumer bases. When fashion brands buy Piñatex, it generates revenue for Ananas Anam, so they have the capital to increase production. So for each partnership between a brand and the Piñatex product, that unlocks a larger Total Addressable Market for Ananas Anam without having to spend their own marketing dollars or ramp up production of finished goods.
References
Abdulla, H. (2022, August 23). New Zara collection uses pineapple leather alternative. Just Style.
Retrieved July 19, 2023, from
https://www.just-style.com/news/new-zara-collection-uses-pineapple-leather-alternative/
(2022, June 17). Ananas Anam’s 2021 Impact Report. Ananas Anam. Retrieved July 20, 2023, from
https://www.ananas-anam.com/ananas-anams-2021-impact-report/
(2023, April 17). Cat Footwear x Piñatex. Ananas Anam. Retrieved July 20, 2023, from
https://www.ananas-anam.com/cat-footwear-x-pinatex/
Mull, A. (2023, April 11). How Shoppers Got Tricked By Vegan Leather. The Atlantic. Retrieved July 22,
2023, from
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/04/pleather-vegan-faux-leather-fashion-sustainability/673693/