Purple reign: Amid global popularity, Philippines seeks to keep grip on ube

The Philippine ube has become a trendsetting sensation from Los Angeles to London to Seoul with the humble yams bright purple hue drawing lines outside coffee shops and bakeries and millions of views on social mediaBut keeping pace with the international boom has proven tricky for the archipelago nations overwhelmingly smallholder farmers with yields declining and some unable to commit to the plants ninemonth growing timeFears that biopiracy might take a chunk out of the blossoming market meanwhile have prompted the government to announce a ban on the export of the raw form of the yamStanding in his ube field south of Manila farmerexporter Al Bonifacio told AFP he was in favour of doing whatever it took to protect the crop from any growers overseas trying to cash in on the crazePurple is so royal and is very pleasing to the eye the 59yearold said with a smile during a visit to his onehectare 25acre ube farmOur greatest fear is if we are not able to supply ube to the world someone else will step inSold as powder extract paste or frozen puree ube is easily mixed into coffee pastries ice cream spreads and even makeupAt a Tokyo gelato shop ube importer JP Mercado told AFP the Japanese market was expanding rapidly after the craze first hit neighbouring South KoreaIts really taken off like wildfire he said as a batch of powder was slowly stirred into gelato turning it a bright purpleI think social media has been hugely impactful he said adding his client list ranged from small cafes to luxury hotelsRooted in historyUbe was a staple of Philippine gardens as long as 5000 years ago boiled and eaten by families as a substitute to rice when their provisions ran outBeloved for its mildly sweet nutty flavour and velvety texture it later evolved into a party food consumed as a jam or stewed with sticky rice balls in coconut milkDemand exploded locally this decade most memorably during a purple bread mania that swept the archipelago in the darkest days of the Covid19 pandemicIm superobsessed with ube university student Kym Trivino told AFP as she sipped an ubematcha concoction at one of Manilas largest shopping mallsBaker Diane Bustos said her company now sells seven types of ube cookiesIt took over matcha Thats really something that we Filipinos should be really proud of she said referring to the bright green tea powder popularised by Gwyneth Paltrow and other celebritiesBut as ube mania grows globally clouds loom at homeBonifacio told AFP the countrys small farmers widely lacked the facilities for postharvest storage and processing while access to marketing and financing laggedPlanting to harvest takes at least nine months too long for most Filipino farmers who preferred the shorter growing period for beans squash or bittergourd to feed their families the farmer addedBonifacio said he had been forced to scour the rest of the country for raw ube to meet his growing export commitments a process that can double his costsWe have the land but quality planting materials are not always available Leonilyn Ladao a local agriculturist told AFPA battle for the futureLast years production was just 12483 tonnes Jose Zalde Samson from the countrys plant industry bureau told AFP of the fiveyear lowIndustry officials blamed typhoons which hit key ube farming regions For the first half of 2026 production was up around 17 percentThe government has only started promoting ube in the past two to three years as demand spiked Samson explainedBefore the ube craze it was a niche market he said adding it had lagged behind highvalue crops like bananas mangoes and coffeeWith the pressure on the government is now working on how it can boost supplyWe are looking at how the growing season can be shortened to six months Samson saidWith neighbours like Thailand and Vietnam now getting into the game the Philippines is acting to protect its crownWe dont want to export it to countries that could use Philippine ube varieties to compete with us Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said last month while revealing the ban on raw ube exportsWeve had data that tubers were being surreptitiously exported Samson said declining to provide further detailsIn Tokyo ube importer Mercado said he backed the Philippine governments move which he believed would protect the countrys cultural heritageUbe really is I would say very interlocked with the Filipino identity he saidBonifacio the farmer agreedWe are stewards of the ube industry he said looking out over his cropWe have a stake in this We have to protect itThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever