Textile innovator Piñatex heading for liquidation
Madrid – The outlook is bleak for the disruptive and renowned textile innovation company Ananas Anam, founded in 2013 by Spanish national Carmen Hijosa. The company owns a range of sustainable solutions for the textile industry, including the vegan pineapple leather marketed under the Piñatex brand. It is currently in pre-insolvency proceedings in Spain and under administration in the UK.
Ananas Anam owns the trademarks “Piñatex”, “Piñayarn” and “Anam Palf”. Under these brands, it markets its revolutionary sustainable solutions for leather, yarn and premium leather, respectively. All are developed from organic waste generated from pineapple plant cultivation. The company entered pre-insolvency proceedings in Spain last July 2025. According to information obtained by FashionUnited, around that time the textile company submitted a letter to the Commercial Court No. 3 of Barcelona. The letter informed the judicial body that it was opening a negotiation phase with its creditors. The aim was to reach a debt restructuring plan to avoid entering insolvency proceedings and, in the worst-case scenario, liquidation.
With the submission of this letter on July 14, Ananas Anam received a response from the Court in a writ of acknowledgement dated July 18. The Spanish company then entered what is commonly known as pre-insolvency proceedings. The Court imposed the three-month period stipulated by law for such procedures. This shields the company from insolvency applications until November 15, 2025. After this date, if no moratorium is agreed and the company fails to restructure its debt or reach an agreement with a potential investor, Ananas Anam must file for insolvency.
Meanwhile, according to the writ, “creditors may not initiate judicial or extrajudicial enforcement actions on assets or rights necessary for the continuation of Ananas Anam's business activity”. At the time of announcing the negotiations, the company stated it had an accumulated debt of 3.22 million euros. It argued that to continue its business operations, it required protection and continued use of its production machinery; IT equipment for managing orders; protection of its trademark rights; and access to its industrial unit in the Can Misser industrial estate in Canet de Mar, Barcelona.
Heading for liquidation
In a parallel move to the actions taken in Spain, the textile innovation company entered administration in the UK on August 19. The UK is home to its parent company, Ananas Anam UK Limited, which also operates two subsidiaries for its businesses in the Philippines and Spain: Ananas Anam Philippines, with 15 employees, and Ananas Anam España, with 20 employees. This occurred just three days after paying outstanding wages and dismissing all its UK employees on August 16.
As part of the company's orderly bankruptcy and liquidation process, Neil Bennett and Alex Cadwallader from Leonard Curtis were appointed as joint administrators of Ananas Anam UK Limited on August 19. Leonard Curtis is a British firm specialising in restructuring, insolvency and financial advisory services. Ananas Anam had already contacted the firm in December 2024 to conduct a review of the company's situation. The study concluded that Ananas Anam required an immediate capital injection.
In response to these findings, the management initiated contact with potential investors/buyers, particularly with the company Fresh Del Monte. Fresh Del Monte injected 300,000 euros into the company to finance its operations while acquisition negotiations continued. These funds were supplemented by 100,000 euros injected by Compagnie Frutitiére at the end of last May. This was to cover employee salaries while it considered the possibility of a solo rescue of the company. Both negotiations proved unsuccessful. This left Ananas Anam UK Limited, owner of the rights to the “Piñatex”, “Piñayarn” and “Anam Palf” trademarks, with no option but to file for administration on August 19.
As a final update on the company's situation, following their appointment, the administrators have submitted a report dated September 25. The report outlines the action plan they intend to implement as administrators of Ananas Anam UK Limited. This document has already been approved by the company's creditors. It openly states that rescuing the company as a going concern is not considered a viable option, thus destining it for liquidation. For this process, they also warn it is “improbable” that unsecured creditors will recover any of their investments. The focus remains on the only likely scenario: secured creditors recovering part of their investments through the sale of the company's assets.
- Ananas Anam, the Spanish company behind the vegan leather Piñatex, has entered pre-insolvency proceedings in Spain and administration in the UK.
- The company's Spanish subsidiary had accumulated a debt of 3.22 million euros and had initiated negotiations with its creditors when its UK-based parent company ultimately entered administration after failed rescue attempts.
- The administrators in the UK have ruled out the possibility of rescuing the company as a going concern. They are now focused on proceeding with a liquidation process involving the controlled sale of assets to enable secured creditors to recover part of their investments.
This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
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