The world is now very hungry for purple, from United States, Englandfor Japan. In 2025, it is said to have reached more $3 million our ube sales—more than double our sales in 2024. It is said that this could be the new matcha.
But recently, a celebrity chef made an impression Erwan Heussaff restriction of ube supply, and exposing allegations of corruption, gatekeeping, and embezzlement by those involved in ube production here in the Philippines.
It is good that Erwan shows the plight of ube farmers. But there is a simpler reason in his “disclosure”: this is not a strange shortage, if not a simple matter of supply and demand.
Whenever a product or service is sold, its price usually increases. A basic subject in economics. Price is a sign of “scarcity” of something – such as exceeding the price of petrol and diesel in March and April because of the war between the United States and Iran.
When it comes to purple, on purpose 8 to 10 months the time it takes to harvest it, that’s why when there is a new trend of ube among foreigners, supply cannot be found immediately.
After all, raising the price of a product or service benefits whoever sells it. This will be an opportunity to grow our exports. We have a lot to gain from the passion of foreigners and ube.
But there are obstacles to our progress from this ube desire, which is also called “purple rush.”
First, the competition. To capitalize on ube’s new popularity, Vietnam is now positioning itself to export it as well. According to the agricultural economist is not Fermin Adrianohas its own version of ube which is now sold in Vietnam (of Ben call). And Vietnam is now protecting “protection of geographical indications” to Ben Ke. If they get it, our claim of Pinoy ube uniqueness may be undermined, and Vietnamese Ben Ke may become even more popular.
It would be great if we could also get geographical indication protection for our own ube. But it needs more detailed research into the soil, climate, and ube production in the Philippines—and right now the only thing going is the Bohol government’s request for their own. sweet potatoes.
Second, most of the increase in the price of ube goes to the middlemen and not to the ube farmers. This is not surprising because most of us do not use the ube plant itself, but processed products from it, such as ube jam and ube jelly. But until ube farmers feel the price rise, they won’t move on from it—and they won’t be able to grow it either.
For many farmers, ube is a second or supplementary crop. That is, it is not their main source of income, and the income is small compared to “commercial crops” like corn or bananas or sugarcane.
It also appears in the data on purpose is getting weaker production of ube in 2025, as well as the growth of its demand. From 2024 to 2025, the production of fresh ube decreased by 6.7%, and the land used to grow it decreased by 17%. Fortunately, yield or production per hectare has increased—but it needs to be strengthened.
One problem is that the Department of Agriculture or DA actually neglected small crops like ube. Because almost half of the DA’s budget goes to just one product: rice. Other crops such as ube have been somewhat neglected.
Can we continue the ube trick?
Some say the solution is simple: let’s plant more plums! But that is not very strategic.
Ube should not be seen as an export product only. Instead, it would be better if we set aside the “global value chain” of ube: from seed, planting, processing, branding, and distribution to the global market.
The key to large-scale ube production is research and development. Ube can be mass produced using tissue culture. But its entire cycle is said to take 2.5 years, and when the time comes, ube may not be popular. Currently it is also ongoing UP Los Baños of the best types of ube. But not immediately either.
We also need to be able to anchor not only in raw ube, but also in high-value products such as ube paste, flour, flavor extracts, and even food coloring that are easy to store and transport to bakeries, restaurants and manufacturers in other countries.
In order for this to happen, greater support from the government is needed for research and development, storage and processing of materials, compliance with export hygiene standards. Senator Kiko Pangilinan has a proposal today increasing DA costs in the development of ube by 2027. However, DA cannot carry the entire ube production sector. The private sector will still be the star.
We also need to consider an ube brand like ours. If not, there are many other countries that can claim it. It is very important that we get approval for geographical indications.
The illusion of ube is not eternal. In just a few months or years, visitors can get bored. If we don’t fix the global ube value chain, a familiar story may repeat itself: a part of Philippine culture is popular in other parts of the world, but the biggest share of the profits goes to others. – Rappler.com
Jan Carlo “JC” Punongbayan, PhD is an associate professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE). His professional experience includes the Securities and Exchange Commission, the World Bank Office in Manila, the Public Policy Center of Far Eastern University, and the National Economic and Development Authority. JC writes a weekly economics column for Rappler.com. He is also the co-founder of UsapangEcon.com and co-host of Usapang Econ Podcast.
His first book, False Nostalgia: The Marcos “Golden Age” Myths and How to Debunk Them, was published by Ateneo de Manila University Press in February 2023. His second book, Twin Plagues: How Duterte and Covid-19 Destroyed the Philippine Economy, will be published by Penguin Random House on Instagram SEA in June 2026.@jcpunongbayan)
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