Nelson Yang, creator and basic supervisor of Farm to Material, reveals fibers from banana pseudostems at his center in Changhua, Taiwan, August 21, 2025. Yang’s business is turning banana fiber into fabrics he hopes will one day
Business Owner Nelson Yang is reaching back into Taiwan’s history to turn the modest banana plant into a not likely sustainable fabric.
Taiwan is now the world’s dominant manufacturer of innovative semiconductors however the yellow fruit, still commonly grown on the island, was as soon as a source of patriotic pride.
Banana to biomass vision
Nelson Yang, creator and basic supervisor of Farm to Material, examines fibers made from banana pseudostems at the business’s center in Changhua, Taiwan, August 21, 2025.|Picture Credit: REUTERS/Ann Wang
Yang’s Farm to Material, headquartered in the main Changhua rural belt, is turning banana fiber into fabrics he hopes will one day supply worldwide tennis shoe brand names.
“Back in 2008, European (sneaker) brands told us that they were hoping to find a way for food and materials to be produced in parallel, meaning that food and materials are yielded from the same land,” he informed Reuters.
“So we’ve been working based on that concept. What we’re doing now is making sure that all our material sources come from food or leftovers from agriculture or the food industry. We then transform those leftovers into usable materials.”
Under Japanese colonial guideline from 1895-1945, Taiwan was renowned for its fruit, specifically pineapples and bananas, and in the 1960s, the island branded itself the “banana kingdom” to increase exports, now long because surpassed by the tech market.
Turning waste into fiber
Yang’s business takes the middle area of the banana plant, called the pseudostem and usually deserted in the field after harvest, then squashes and dries it to produce the fibers that can make clothes.
A few of the fibers are developed into yarn that can be combined with cotton for socks and can likewise be become vegan leather.
Business is still in its infancy without any orders from garments business.
“Banana fibre actually performs better than regular cotton in terms of water consumption, absorbency, and supply stability, making it highly promising for future applications,” stated Charlotte Chiang, director of the development and sustainable style department at the Taiwan Textile Federation.
“Banana fibre could become a new highlight for Taiwan in the field of biomass fibre in the textiles industry.”
Released on September 18, 2025
