Farmers may not be getting their fair share of global ube boom

MANILA — While the Philippines races to build an export industry around ube, the country’s farmers may not be getting their fair share of the global purple yam boom.

Average retail prices of ube climbed to P80 per kilo in 2025, up 9 percent from the previous year. But average farmgate prices fell nearly 10 percent to P40.70 per kilo from P45.24 in 2024, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The price gap raises a critical question: Who is really making money from the growing international appetite for Philippine ube?

House Representative Brian Poe Llamanzares, vice chair of the Committee on Appropriations, wants more direct purchasing arrangements between farmers and exporters to give growers a bigger share of the business.

“Our fear is, of course, if there’s a middleman, he will benefit from our prices,” Llamanzares said in an interview on ANC’s Startup with Ron Cruz.

He cited farmgate prices ranging from around P16 per kilo in parts of Mindanao to more than P70 in other areas, highlighting the uneven returns across farming communities.

The Philippines is now getting substantial support to develop the industry. On October 25, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced a US$34.1-million, or approximately P2.1-billion, grant from the United States to strengthen the Philippine ube value chain. The five-year program is expected to benefit more than 12,500 Filipino farmers.

This complements a separate P300-million government initiative to expand domestic production, with the DA targeting 1,000 hectares. Llamanzares is also pushing for an additional P100 million for research and development and planting materials.

The congressman says one of the biggest bottlenecks is the lack of quality planting materials. He cited Bohol, a major ube-producing province, as an example of how limited planting stocks can constrain expansion.

“That’s why we’re trying to put more funding into planting material so we can expand,” he said.

He also stressed the need for irrigation, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities and agricultural research, particularly in remote farming communities. Filipino startups and investors could find opportunities in commercial nurseries, agricultural technology, processing, logistics, and direct farm-to-business contracts.

Declining production underscores the urgency. The Philippines harvested just 12,483 metric tons of ube in 2025, down 6.7 percent from 2024 and far below its 2006 peak of 30,074 metric tons, according to PSA data.

Vietnam and China are emerging competitors, according to a Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department assessment. However, Vietnam does not yet have a separately verified, publicly available national ube production figure for 2026. 

The United States is currently the biggest overseas destination for Philippine ube products, accounting for 56.3 percent of exports in 2025, followed by Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. 

In the US, ube’s presence on restaurant menus has grown 231 percent over four years, according to food industry research firm Datassential. South Korea and Europe are also emerging growth markets.

For Llamanzares, the Philippines must move beyond exporting raw ube and capture more value through locally processed products such as powders, purees, and other food ingredients.

The country’s ube exports reached approximately 1,700 metric tons, worth $3.1 million, in 2025, according to a University of Asia and the Pacific industry assessment. The opportunity is to build Filipino businesses that can supply international buyers consistently, rather than simply ride a viral food trend.

The congressman hopes the Philippines can eventually capture 10 to 20 percent of the global ube market by focusing on quality and distinctly Filipino varieties such as Ube Kinampay.

He also credits overseas Filipino workers for helping introduce the crop to international consumers, pointing to the enduring connection between Filipinos abroad and the food they grew up with.

For farmers, however, the real measure of the ube boom will be whether growing global demand translates into better prices, more reliable buyers, and sustainable incomes.