Posted on
March 31, 2026 by
The VRG Blog Editor
By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
Manufactured in Spain using native persimmon fruit agricultural waste that would otherwise rot in a landfill offgassing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to the climate crisis, Persiskin is a 100% animal- and dairy-free material used mostly today in the automotive industry but also in footwear, leather-like goods, and home decor.
To find out more about Persiskin, The Vegetarian Resource Group corresponded by email in February 2026 with Stéphane Mérit, sales director at Persiskin. We learned that Spain is the world’s largest persimmon exporter, producing roughly 1.1 billion pounds annually, an increase from 661.5 million pounds just six years ago. Before Persiskin, over 50% of that annual harvest was left on the trees because it is not commercially viable. According to Mérit, it is destined for the dump.
Now, because of the diversion of all of this waste into Persiskin manufacture, nothing is landfilled or burned. Further, since their raw material making up roughly 75% of their final product is local, Persiskin does not need to import it from a distant country like some of their competitors do, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of their product even more. Incidentally, Mérit told us that they are currently working on calculating the carbon emissions of Persiskin. We will update this article once their report becomes available.
As we reported in a 2020 article on several vegan leathers, polyurethane (PU), derived from fossil fuels, is a substantial component needed to make the materials resistant to wear, light, and water. Mérit told us that Persiskin contains approximately 25% PU, on the low end compared to competitor products. As Mérit points out: “…The current state of the art in vegan materials has not come up with [a PU-free] material, at least [not] at the industrial level. Anything that wears out too quickly will mean a need to replace it and this is not sustainable…”
Mérit noted that Persiskin material is derived entirely from the persimmon fruit; not the tree or leaves. As The VRG has discussed the water footprint of foods in several articles, readers may be concerned about the water requirements of persimmons, especially as Spain is experiencing desertification in some regions although the 2026 rainfall so far has been good according to Mérit.
“You need 375 liters of water to produce one kilo of persimmon [(i.e., 45 gallons/lb.)]. This represents the water consumption of 123 people in a year. If you take this figure to the entire production of persimmons in Spain, this represents the water consumption of 1,046,986 people in a year,” stated Mérit. However, if you take into account that without the Persiskin company over half of that water would be wasted growing fruit that won’t be sold, the company is responsible for saving half of the embedded water consumed by the persimmon harvest. Mérit put it like this: “At Persiskin we do not grow persimmons. We just collect those fruits that would otherwise be sent to the landfill. By doing so, we give a purpose to this wasted crop. And therefore, we justify the use of water to grow these fruits. That’s one of the advantages of using a material like ours. The more Persiskin we produce, the less wasted water there will be.”
Readers interested in purchasing Persiskin may do so through their website. Prices start at approximately $3/sq. ft. https://persiskin.com/
The contents of this posting, our website, and our other publications, including Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.
You can find more non-leather information at https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.php
To support VRG research, donate at vrg.org/donate or join at https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php
