By Stephanie Yang, CNN
(CNN) — Jeffrey Cesari grew up eating ube, a purple yam native to the Philippines, whenever he visited his relatives there. But seven months ago, when he encountered it in a latte at a Turkish cafe, it suddenly sparked a business idea.
The 31-year-old former auditor thought if people in Istanbul were drinking ube lattes, he could launch a similar product in his hometown of Paris. But in joining a growing global hunt for ube, whose signature violet hue has taken over social media in drinks, cakes, and other sweets, Cesari realized that the actual root vegetable was much more elusive, particularly in the wake of its recent fame.
First Cesari scoured Facebook groups and asked ChatGPT and Gemini for leads. But he wasn’t sure he could trust the websites he found. There were different plant varieties – Baligonhon, Sampero, Kinampay – and forms – extract, power, jam. He also worried about getting a product that could have more common crops, like taro or purple sweet potato, mixed in.
He put his search on hold until February, when he went to see his family in the Philippines. There he visited bake shops and wholesalers, hoping to trace their supply chains back to the farmers themselves. However, he said most were reluctant to facilitate contact with their sources.
“It was a bit frustrating. If we want to get the high-quality ube, I think we have to be on-site, because you have to feel, you have to see, you have to test,” he said. “You have to be careful. Some projects you don’t know if they are very transparent.”
Finally, a relative mentioned a recent initiative he had heard of to grow more ube for export. Cesari took a two-hour boat ride from Cebu, where his family lives, to the neighboring island of Bohol, to meet farmers who said they could supply him starting with 10 kilograms per month. He’s hoping to launch his ube latte mix, named Ube Signature Paris, by the end of June.
“I can feel the big potential of the ube latte,” Cesari said. “But I have the impression all people are trying to create ube lattes, because they can feel this potential.”
The new matcha
Ube has long been a niche product in much of the world, recognized and consumed most frequently among Filipino communities. But in recent years, it’s gained a reputation as a burgeoning successor to matcha, the bright green Japanese tea that quickly become a coffeeshop staple.
A global shortage of matcha last year was what propelled some food and beverage brands to embrace ube, which also has Asian roots, mild flavor and a vivid hue, said Rhea Topacio, founder of Panama World, an Amsterdam-based seller of ube-flavored products like ice cream and syrup.
“There’s a surge of ube,” said Topacio. “People are always looking for something new. Especially in the times right now, everything is on social media.”
In March, Starbucks added an iced ube coconut macchiato to its menu, which the company said came after its ube flavor became a customer favorite at premium store locations. UK-based competitor Costa Coffee also launched a new ube flavor in the same month for its hot chocolate and frappe drinks.
Datassential, a Chicago-based market researcher, said its surveys indicate 27% of US consumers know what ube is now compared to 15% five years ago. But while ube menu offerings have tripled over the past four years, it is still on less than 2% of US menus.
Though the purple products have not reached the same level of ubiquity as matcha lattes, their growing popularity is putting pressure on the less developed ube supply chain. Ube enterprises can be tight-lipped on sourcing, and Topacio said many consumers likely can’t tell if they are tasting real ube or not.