Purple ube’s viral rise is turning a Filipino staple into a global trend — but supplies are tightening

ube is having a moment. london restaurateur chris joseph has served the purple yam for a decade, but interest surged in the past year. his soho restaurant kasa and kin sells ube lattes, ube martinis, and ube tsunami cheesecake. "what was really flying off the shelf was ube from the start," he said. customers used to be nostalgic filipinos. now it's curious walk-ins. starbucks helped spark the trend in 2025 with limited-time ube drinks, expanding its 2026 spring lineup. peet's also added an ube latte. ube offerings on u.s. menus rose 230% in four years, per datassentials. it's on 95 chains now, predicted to grow 74% more. the philippines shipped $3.2 million worth of ube in 2025 — 1.7 million kilograms, up 20% from the prior year. the u.s. bought half of it. but supply is tightening. production of purple yams in the philippines fell 1.63% from 2024 to 2025, down to 12,483 metric tons. climate change is making weather unpredictable, and quality planting material is limited. the country is importing some ube from vietnam. joseph isn't complaining — he's happy farmers can charge more. "please let the world discover ube," he said.