I met Umaima Dawood during an event at the Edward M Kennedy Centre in Dhanmondi. It was the closing day of a workshop on tourism and Umaima came with her parents. An attractive lady in her twenties, she seemed like the type who could easily grab anyone’s attention at any event.
However, what was more striking about her was the shawl that dangled from her shoulder. It was of the most unusual make, but was stunning nevertheless. Unable to resist asking her about it, it turns out, the shawl really was extraordinary - it was one made using pineapple yarn. Here's a snippet of a conversation with her as she explained the science of making fabric out of pineapple!
Whose idea was it to create yarn out of pineapple?
Pineapple is grown in abundance in the Modhupur, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet. The managing director of FRC Bangladesh D J Agro Ltd, Dawood Farhan, travelled all over the country and went beyond borders to learn more about the field of agriculture, poultry and livestock. His innovative nature and extensive knowledge of history led him to find ways to utilise waste into a consumer product, similar to a technology employed in the Phillipines for many years. His personal research led him to meet the then and present day chief of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), David Hall at a conference.
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) at that point had their own extensive research on this subject matter and were looking for a like-minded individual who would lead this project commercially, but also serve the interest of creating employment in the tribal, deprived and sexually exploited women community.
Dawood has always been a supporter of the concept of creating employment opportunities for all, especially those deprived and exploited socially. Soon enought, the two ideas met and merged and Fiber Resource Centre Bangladesh (FRC Bangladesh) came to be, a centre that specialises in creating material out of waste.
The yarn that is produced from pineapple - is it as good as yarn produced from corpus?
This is a different material, so it is quite difficult and almost impossible to compare the two. Pina is a very high grade material and produces fabulous materials and yarn. Moreover, the cloth has a fantastic look and feel to it, in addition to it being environmental and skin friendly.
Can you shed some light on the process of making yarn from pineapple?
It is a simple process that involves extracting fiber from leaves, which are then processed naturally to prepare it before turning it into yarn.
Have you used this fabric to make general day-to-day wear?
We currently produce FRC Pina silk, FRC Pina cotton and FRC Pina cotton/silk, all of which is suitable for everyday wear/accessories. In fact, we have made some clothes that we have worn to many events too. This includes both day-wear and evening wear. We’ll be making these available for all very soon, insha'Allah. We do hope people will keep an eye out for clothing and accessories made using FRC Pina fabric.
When it comes to commercialising the sale of such a niche type of material - what type of techniques are you employing?
Our marketing strategy is simple and straightforward. We want the people of Bangladesh to know that this product is coming from their own country, being made by their own people and needs to be worn and promoted by its people too. That is essentially our unique selling point.
What are the prospects for pineapple yarn?
It is an environmental friendly fabric, a product that is used up completely without leaving any negative footprint. With time, consumers have become very conscious which is great news for all of us. At the same time, consumers are also very fashion conscious. With a fabric like this - all natural and so versatile in its uses, the prospects are endless. I really do believe there are many styles, many uses, many benefits to using this material.
It is a new concept, so people will generally take some time to understand it better, but once they do, and also know of the manifold benefits to society at large - we know they will be as excited and interested about the FRC Pina fabric and products, if not more! Insha'Allah.
