KiwiFruit Into Cowhide? NZ Startup Reinvents Waste with Plant-Based Leather

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Forget feedstock, New Zealand’s kiwifruit rejects are being stitched into a very different future. At the centre of it all is KiwiLeather Innovations, a next-gen biomaterials company quietly turning over 50,000 tonnes of orchard discards into a new kind of plant-based leather.

Source: KiwiLeather Innovations

Once tossed to cattle or compost, this fuzzy fruit waste is now the basis for a sustainable, plastic-free leather alternative catching global attention. What started in a small Papamoa kitchen has been refined through collaboration with Scion Research, resulting in a soft, durable and surprisingly fragrant material that mimics traditional leather, without the cow or crude oil.

Globally, the race for plant-based leather is heating up. The synthetic leather market is projected to hit US$66 billion by 2030, with plant-based alternatives surging ahead at an annual growth rate of 7.9% (Allied Market Research, 2024). Major automakers like Tesla, BMW, and Volvo are shifting from animal hides to cactus, pineapple and now, potentially, kiwifruit.

Source: KiwiLeather Innovations

But there’s a slight problem at this stage as there isn’t enough raw biomaterial to meet demand. That’s where KiwiLeather sees its golden opportunity. With New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry exporting over 623,000 tonnes annually (Zespri, 2024), the volume of waste alone could form the backbone of a high-margin biomaterials export sector.

The company is already courting interest from automotive, furniture, and luxury goods manufacturers eager to ditch animal leather without sacrificing performance or feel. Early product tests suggest strong resistance to wear and tear, enough for steering wheels, shoes, even high-end sofas.

It’s part of a larger narrative unfolding in New Zealand’s agri-tech scene where future foods and materials aren’t just about nutrition anymore, they’re about next-life circularity. As the planet runs out of ways to justify animal-derived goods, waste-to-value stories like this are beginning to smell a lot like success.

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