Desserto Cactus Leather: How It's Made and How Green It Really Is

Originally published 2019-10-13.

Desserto is a plant-based material made from the nopal, or prickly pear cactus, developed in Mexico as an alternative to animal leather. Its creators, Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez, spent about two years on the formula and presented it to the fashion industry at the Lineapelle trade fair in Milan in October 2019. It has since been used by brands including H&M. Like most leather alternatives, though, it is not made only of cactus: what else goes into it, and how green it really is, depends on the specific version of the material.

This guide explains how cactus “leather” is made, why the nopal was chosen, how it compares with animal leather and plastic faux leathers, and which claims deserve a closer look.

Who created Desserto

Reports describe the founders’ earlier careers in the automotive, furniture and fashion industries, where they saw how much leather and plastic-based leatherette those industries use. They left their jobs to develop a material that could perform like leather while relying mainly on a crop that grows easily in Mexico. Their company, Adriano Di Marti, is based in Guadalajara, and the cactus is reportedly grown on a ranch in the state of Zacatecas.

Friends reportedly advised them not to give up their jobs for such a risky idea. The pair kept going through a long period of trial and error before arriving at a blend with the look, softness and strength they wanted. Mexican media, including El Universal, covered the launch, and the national university’s innovation account shared the news too.

Esta #innovación 💡 mexicana es amigable con el medio ambiente 👌transpirable y dura al menos una década. Conócela aquí 👇👇 https://t.co/ifhG3bUNvL

— InnovacionUNAM (@InnovacionUNAM) September 28, 2019

Why the nopal cactus?

The nopal (Opuntia, the prickly pear) is woven into Mexican life. It appears on the national coat of arms, beneath the eagle perched on a cactus, and has been eaten since before the Spanish conquest. Its flat pads, called nopales, are sliced into salads, grilled with meat, scrambled with eggs, blended into drinks and added to tortillas, while the fruit, the tuna, is eaten fresh or turned into sweets. The plant also feeds livestock and was historically used as a host for cochineal insects, the source of a famous red dye.

For a materials company, the appeal is practical. According to Desserto, its cactus grows on rain-fed land without irrigation, only mature pads are cut so the plant keeps growing, and the harvested pads are dried in the sun instead of with energy-hungry machines. Those are the company’s own descriptions of its farming, and they are part of why the material attracted so much attention.

Mexico has seen other nopal experiments too, including fibres proposed for aeronautical uses and bioplastics for straws and cutlery.

How cactus leather is made

In broad terms, the dried cactus is ground into a powder and mixed with other ingredients into a paste. That paste is spread as a coating onto a supporting fabric, then cured, coloured and given a surface texture. Early descriptions mentioned a blend of nopal and cotton; later accounts describe a textile backing and a bio-based polymer coating.

This is where precision matters. The 2019 launch coverage called it the first organic leather made entirely from cactus, and the founders described it as wholly plant-based and lasting about ten years. Those claims were broader than the evidence. Desserto’s own FAQ now says its most advanced materials are 90 per cent bio-based, using a patented biopolymer made from cactus proteins in place of conventional plastics. Bio-based means made from living sources; it does not automatically mean biodegradable, and the FAQ itself says finished products break down only partially, under specific industrial conditions.

What independent testing found

In 2021 the German testing institute FILK published a study in the journal Coatings comparing animal leather with several alternatives, including a Desserto sample. A summary in the Lineapelle fair’s magazine described that sample as cactus material on a polyester backing with a polyurethane coating, and the leather industry’s summary lists the test results, in which leather generally performed best on durability measures.

That study needs its own context. The samples were bought on behalf of COTANCE, the European leather industry body, and in 2025 Desserto publicly questioned its neutrality; FILK replied that it had worked independently and that an updated study was in preparation. Formulations also change over time, so a sample tested in 2021 may not match what is sold today.

How it compares with other leather alternatives

Desserto belongs to a wave of plant-based materials that appeared in the late 2010s. The founders cited two in particular:

• Piñatex, made from fibres of discarded pineapple leaves. It was invented by the Spanish designer Carmen Hijosa and is produced by Ananas Anam, a company based in London, so describing it simply as a Spanish textile is not quite right. Reuters reported on it in 2018.
• Frumat, an Italian material developed in Bolzano that uses waste left over from processing apples for juice.

This woman creates "pineapple leather" that's environmentally friendly and a vegan alternative 🍍 pic.twitter.com/D5RCyAb7YO

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) December 19, 2018

All of these aim to replace two things at once: animal hides, with their links to cattle farming and chemical tanning, and conventional faux leathers made largely from PVC or polyurethane derived from petroleum. Plastic leatherettes tend to be less breathable than hide and can crack and peel after a few years. Most plant-based options still use some synthetic binder or backing to reach the strength needed for shoes, bags or car seats, which is why the exact recipe matters.

From trade fair to shop shelves

After the Milan launch, Desserto pitched its material to fashion, furniture, leather goods and car makers, the industries whose physical and chemical standards it said it could meet. In 2021 H&M used it in its Science Story collection, a high-profile step for a small Mexican startup, as Ecotextile News reported. Other brands have used it for bags, shoes and accessories.

The video below shows the founders explaining their material around the time of the launch.

How to judge a “vegan leather” label

If you are choosing between leather, plastic faux leather and plant-based materials, a few questions cut through the marketing:

• What is it actually made of? Look for the full composition, including the backing fabric and coating, not just the headline plant.
• How long will it last for this use? A wallet, a sofa and a pair of work boots face very different wear. A general lifespan promise does not cover all of them.
• What happens at the end? Few blended materials can be recycled or composted easily. Ask what the maker says, and under which conditions.
• Is there independent data? Life-cycle assessments and lab tests are more useful than broad words like “eco” or “natural.”

Cactus leather is a genuinely interesting Mexican innovation. It is most useful when described as it is: a designed material that uses cactus as a key ingredient, with environmental benefits that depend on the full recipe and on how long the product stays in use.

Sources: Desserto FAQ; El Universal; FashionUnited on the Lineapelle launch; Ecotextile News on H&M; UNC Kenan-Flagler on Desserto’s founders; Lineapelle magazine on the FILK study; Leatherbiz on Desserto and FILK; Reuters on Piñatex; first shared via The Mind Unleashed.