Since 2006, the European Patent Office has organized the European Inventor Award every year, which highlights the innovation potential of inventors, mainly European, who contribute to advancing and progressing the world.
This year, in the SME category, Carmen Hijosa, originally from Spain, determined not to be satisfied with a deserved retirement, created Ananas Anam and filed a patent on a vegetable leather substitute, Piñatex®, made from fibers from pineapple leaves and stems, hitherto unused co-products of the pineapple harvest.
The manufacturing process for this leather substitute involves applying a fusible material to interconnected layers of pineapple leaf and stems, then pressing and melting the fusible material before applying a hardener.
Its European patent was granted in 2018, and Piñatex® is now used by 3,000 brands all over the world.