Filipino restaurant Kasa and Kin in Soho, London, provides a number of drinks and desserts made with ube, a root vegetable from the Philippines which has seen a surge in demand from youthful customers as a consequence of its vibrant colour and candy style.
Kasa and Kin
Lengthy-time Filipino restaurateur Chris Joseph has served ube throughout his London institutions for the previous decade, however curiosity in drinks and desserts that includes the purple yam has surged previously yr.
Ube, a naturally candy, starchy vegetable that’s grown by farmers within the Philippines, has been the star of Joseph and his spouse Rowena Romulo’s Soho restaurant Kasa and Kin, based in 2021.
“What was actually flying off the shelf was ube from the beginning,” Joseph advised CNBC in an interview.
Their former restaurant, Romulo Café, which opened in 2016 and has since closed, was additionally identified for ube dishes. Kasa and Kin’s menu options an ube latte, ube martini, ube tsunami cheesecake (with a flood of purple sauce), and even an ube cream cheese bread amongst different artistic objects.
Ube has grown 230% throughout restaurant menus within the U.S. previously 4 years, per meals & drinks analytics agency Datassentials
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Joseph’s preliminary clients have been nostalgic Filipinos looking for a style of dwelling. “What we have seen now could be folks strolling in and [being] interested by ube, folks that we do not usually see. … They arrive in, they’re going to take a look at the bakery case, they’re going to choose up an ube one thing, or the ube brownie, or ube ice cream,” he mentioned.
Prior to now yr, ube has transcended Filipino tradition and entered the mainstream consciousness as espresso chains and eating places hunt for the following viral food and drinks craze.
Starbucks helped spark the pattern in 2025 with limited-time choices of Ube Iced Coconut Latte and Ube Espresso Martini, increasing its 2026 spring lineup to incorporate an Ube Matcha Latte and Ube Vanilla Macchiato. U.S. espresso chain Peet’s additionally launched an Iced Vanilla Latte with Ube Dream Prime for the season.
Ube choices have risen by 230% throughout restaurant menus within the U.S. previously 4 years, based on meals and beverage analytics agency Datassentials. It presently options on the menu at 95 chains throughout the U.S., and is predicted to develop 74% within the subsequent 4 years.
Exports of ube from the Philippines have risen sharply lately. In 2025, the Philippines shipped about $3.2 million price of ube — almost 1.7 million kilograms—marking a roughly 20% enhance from the prior yr, based on knowledge from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shared with CNBC.
The US was the biggest importer, accounting for round $1.6 million, or roughly half of whole exports. Canada, Australia, and the U.Okay. have been the following largest markets.
Joseph mentioned the elevated visibility of ube has boosted Kasa and Kin’s gross sales, with the restaurant’s desserts seeing excessive demand.
Emily Tang, Datassentials’ chief product officer, tells CNBC that ube is “accessible from a taste perspective,” which makes it straightforward to innovate with.
“It pairs nicely with issues that individuals like, which means espresso, drinks, desserts, and pastries, and it has a light nutty taste, so it is acquired a really low barrier to trial. It isn’t a scary taste; it is secure experimentation, and it is also visually beautiful.”
‘The right pattern’
Ube is having a second, nevertheless it’s been a gradual ascent to reputation. Datassentials has been monitoring the flavour since 2017, when it was primarily offered in Filipino bakeries and genuine mom-and-pop eateries within the U.S.
Its preliminary look on the worldwide scene was tied to “the rise of Asian tradition within the mainstream,” from meals and drinks like Korean fried hen and boba tea to media like Okay-pop and Okay-drama, based on Tang.
A significant milestone was in 2022 when Baskin-Robbins supplied Ube Coconut Swirl ice cream as a limited-time merchandise.
“This March was like the largest month for ube limited-time provides that we have now been monitoring on the prime chains, so now it is actually within the mainstream,” Tang mentioned of this yr, and tied its accelerating reputation to social media.
“It is so visually vibrant. It is very Instagrammable. It is very shiny. It is very simply unfold by social media, and so ube is only a good pattern in its conduct,” Tang added.
A search of the ube hashtag exhibits 120,000 posts on TikTok and greater than 750,000 posts on Instagram, all that includes ube’s hanging purple hue.
The hype across the ingredient is essentially pushed by a worldwide urge for food for extra unique drink and dessert flavors, as meals chains intention to duplicate the success of Japanese matcha and Dubai Chocolate, each of which have been tailored into all the things from desserts to milkshakes.
“It is simply a part of the tradition of consuming and consuming now as a result of the demand for beautiful-looking meals is as essential because the style,” Andrew Freeman, the founding father of hospitality consulting agency AF&Co, advised CNBC.
Espresso, specifically, has grow to be a social media focus for the youthful era as they pattern away from consuming alcohol, based on Freeman.
Ube latte at Kasa and Kin restaurant in Soho, London.
Kasa and Kin
“Individuals are consuming much less, so espresso home tradition is coming again,” he mentioned.
“On this yr’s report, we had an entire research of espresso and the way it’s gone from being a purposeful drink to being an over-the-top, ‘What can I placed on prime of the espresso? What can I foam it with?’ What’s driving it’s that you simply wish to get it photographed, and also you need it to go viral,” he mentioned.
Tightening provide
However whereas ube is having fun with elevated demand globally, Filipino farmers are struggling to maintain tempo as local weather change makes climate patterns extra unpredictable and limits the availability of high quality planting materials, based on The Philippine Root Crop Analysis and Coaching Heart.
The whole quantity of manufacturing of purple yams within the area has declined yearly, down down 1.63% from 13,381 metric tons in 2024 to 12,483 metric tons in 2025, based on PSA knowledge. In 2021, the Philippines produced 14,150 metric tons of purple yams.
Farmer Felisa Ap-ap harvests purple yams from the facet of the mountain on February 13, 2026 within the village of Bayabas, Sablan, Philippines.
Ezra Acayan | Getty Pictures Information | Getty Pictures
The nation is even importing some ube from Vietnam to help native demand.
“It is a type of issues proper at first, you are going to have a surge in demand, and the availability chain simply must catch up and get an concept of what it’s,” Kasa and Kin’s Joseph mentioned.
Whereas the value of ube has elevated, Joseph isn’t complaining as a result of it is a possibility for farmers within the Philippines to cost increased costs.
“A humble crop like a tuber is one thing that not many worth, so I am joyful for them. If they’ll get extra for it, they’ll plant extra of it, nice. Please let the world uncover ube,” he mentioned.
