每个月，Ren Pulido 都会在旧金山湾区当地超市冷冻柜通道购买约 120 pounds 的紫薯泥（pureed ube），并用来制作 ube halaya，作为起司蛋糕、布朗尼和其他甜点的基底。她说，自 2019 年以来，ube 价格已上涨超过一倍至每磅 $4.99，而她常去的一家商店经常供应不足。随著 ube 在美国的需求扩大，2025 年餐厅菜单上出现 ube 的次数是 2021 年的 3 倍，且包括 Trader Joe’s、Starbucks、King’s Hawaiian、Xing Fu Tang 与 Jollibee Foods Corp. 在内的主要品牌与连锁业者都已推出 ube 产品。
文中引用的 UN 数据显示，菲律宾在去年前 9 个月出口了接近 610 metric tons 的山药，较 2024 年同期增加 43%。菲律宾农业部的一份报告指出，2019 至 2024 年间，超过一半的山药出口流向美国。文章称，菲律宾超过三分之一的 ube 产自 Central Visayas，当地台风可能干扰采收与运输，并引述 Sister Guadalupe Bautista 表示，ube 是自家后院种植作物，而非种植园作物。
文章指出，传统农民常把整批收成都卖掉，而不是保留高品质插枝用于再种植；并称农业部在去年将其每年用于分发 ube 插枝及鼓励更高附加价值冷冻与泥状产品的预算提高到 3 倍。报导称，在去年秋天台风过后，目前新鲜 ube 出现过剩，因为农民在未完全成熟前就采收，但 Regina Garcia 表示，鉴于国际需求强劲，这种供过于求并非永久。Daniel Corpuz 表示，一些分销商因 Trump 政府的贸易战已停止向美国销售；而 Encore Fruit Marketing 表示其已增加采购并更早预订出货；Bohol 的生产者也在寻求地理标志保护，因为外界日益担心生产可能转移到 Indonesia 和 Vietnam 等国家。
Every month, Ren Pulido buys about 120 pounds of pureed ube from local supermarket freezer aisles in the San Francisco Bay Area and uses it for ube halaya as a base for cheesecakes, brownies, and other treats. She says ube prices have more than doubled since 2019 to $4.99 a pound, and one store she frequents is often low on supply. Ube demand in the US has expanded as it appeared on three times as many restaurant menus in 2025 as in 2021, and major brands and chains have launched ube products, including Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, King’s Hawaiian, Xing Fu Tang, and Jollibee Foods Corp.
UN data cited in the article says the Philippines exported almost 610 metric tons of yams in the first nine months of last year, up 43% from the same period in 2024. A Philippines Department of Agriculture report says more than half of yam exports from 2019 to 2024 went to the US. The article says more than a third of Philippine ube is grown in Central Visayas, where typhoons can disrupt harvesting and transportation, and it quotes Sister Guadalupe Bautista saying ube is a homegrown backyard crop rather than a plantation crop.
The article says traditional farmers often sell entire harvests instead of reserving high-quality cuttings for replanting, and that last year the Department of Agriculture tripled its annual budget for distributing ube cuttings and encouraging higher-value frozen and pureed products. It reports that after typhoons last fall, there is currently a surplus of fresh ube because farmers harvested before full maturity, but Regina Garcia says the glut is not permanent given strong international demand. Daniel Corpuz says some distributors have stopped selling to the US amid the Trump administration’s trade war, while Encore Fruit Marketing says it has been buying more and booking shipments earlier; producers in Bohol are also seeking geographical indication protection as concerns grow that production could shift to countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. (Key numbers: 3)