Banofi Leather is an India-based startup that believes its solution will make you "go bananas" and for a good reason.

East Coast Radio reports that Banofi Leather is the creation of Jinali Mody, who wanted "to break free from the status quo and make way for revolution", after she won one of the largest student entrepreneurship competitions in the world, the Hult Prize 2023. Banofi's solution won the competition in which around 10.000 startups participated.

The material composition for the company's products is 50% banana stem from the banana trees, 30% natural additives and 20% recycled polymers, for extra resistance and durability.

"Our proprietary material, Ban-o-Fi (Banana Fibre Leather), has a significantly lower environmental impact than both animal and plastic leather. We continue to innovate and reduce our dependence on polymers", the company states on its website.

The company can have a great environmental impact with this product, as its production reduces toxic wastewater completely, while delivering 90% lower CO2 emissions and upcycles what would normally be banana waste.

And the impact is not only limited to the planet, as local communities benefit from the effort, as well. "We source our banana waste solely from smallholder farmers, where this waste is not utilized. These farmers are the core of our business, providing us with the main ingredient for our process and are compensated for their valuable produce, in turn disincentivizing crop burning practices", the company adds.