Vegan Leather Made From Mangoes

Ready or not, veganism is getting into the mainstream. And it does seem that more and more people are joining the plant-based movement. 

In fact, people cite one or more of three key motives for going vegan – animal welfare, environmental concerns and personal health – and this is accompanied by an endless array of new business startups, cookbooks, YouTube channels, trendy events and polemical documentaries (“advocacy films”). 

A sample of the ever-growing range of vegan products. Image credit: Jill Mead/The Guardian 

It is said the traditional food industry is already desperately trying to catch up with the flourishing grassroots demand. 

If you don't already know, Guinness have gone vegan when they stopped using fish bladders in their brewing process, after two and a half centuries. 

In the UK, restaurant chain, Wagamama have introduced a vegan menu. Pizza Hut have joined Pizza Express and Zizzi in offering vegan pizzas. Marks & Spencer and Pret a Manger have introduced vegan ranges. And Tesco have a position called director of plant-based innovation. 

The latest is a company in the Netherlands that are utilizing what would otherwise be wasted food to create vegan leather. That food is a fruit we know of as mango (Scientific name: Mangifera indica).

Fruitleather Rotterdam receive free leftover mangoes from the quality control sector of a Dutch fruit company and breaks it down to a puree to be turned into a durable, cruelty-free leather alternative:

 

What will they think of next?

Slowly and steadily, it looks like the world is embracing a plant-based lifestyle. I suppose that promotes sustainability and it can only be good for the battered and beleagured world.