Ube: The Filipino Superfood France Is Finally Discovering

Published September 23, 2026

Two years ago, saying the word “ube” to a French person mostly drew puzzled looks. In 2026, things have changed: the purple tuber from the Philippines appears on coffee shop menus, at food industry trade shows, and in the recommendations of wellness accounts on Instagram and TikTok. It's not an isolated fad, it's an underlying movement that is strikingly reminiscent of the early days of matcha in Europe about ten years ago.

At Vytal Oya, we bet on ube from the start, precisely because this wave seemed to be coming. Here is what's actually happening, why now, and how to try this ingredient without falling for a poor-quality product.

What is ube, for those discovering the word?

Ube is a purple yam native to the Philippines (Dioscorea alata), a tuber naturally rich in anthocyanins, with a mild, lightly vanilla-like taste, and completely caffeine-free. It is most often consumed as a powder, in hot or iced drinks, or in baking.

Its intense purple colour, natural and free of colouring, is what strikes you first. It's also what explains its virality on social media, where aesthetics matter as much as what's on the plate or in the glass. For a complete definition, the origin of the word, its pronunciation and its nutritional composition, our complete guide to ube covers the subject in detail.

Why is everyone talking about ube in France right now?

Ube is gaining ground in France because three movements are converging at the same time: growing demand for caffeine-free coffee alternatives, fatigue with matcha having become omnipresent, and the arrival of major flavour and ingredient manufacturers in this category that is still almost untouched in Europe.

The clearest signal comes from the professional world: at the latest food industry trade shows, several big names in flavours and ingredients presented launches around ube, a sign that the category is no longer seen as an exotic curiosity but as a serious development area. This industrial movement follows, with a slight lag, what had already been happening on social media for several seasons: the ube latte, popularised in American and Asian coffee shops, has ended up crossing the Atlantic and the Channel.

The second, quieter driver is the search for alternatives to coffee and matcha that involve no compromise on pleasure. Ube ticks that box with a naturally sweet, vanilla-like profile and no bitterness, whereas most caffeine-free alternatives on the market (chicory, rooibos) have an earthier taste that doesn't please everyone.

Will ube replace matcha in French cafés?

No, not in the sense of a straight substitution: ube and matcha meet different needs (matcha stimulates thanks to its caffeine, ube soothes without containing any) and are meant to coexist on menus rather than exclude each other. Ube mostly widens the offer toward customers who avoid caffeine.

That's indeed what we already see in the most forward-looking coffee shops: the ube latte joins the menu alongside matcha, not in its place. For a detailed comparison, taste, benefits, caffeine and uses, our Ube vs Matcha comparison answers the most frequent questions point by point.

Where can you already find ube in France?

Ube remains a nascent category in France: you mostly find it in a few avant-garde independent coffee shops, from specialist brands selling online, and more occasionally in some delis or Asian grocery stores. Mass retail hasn't adopted it yet.

It's a situation reminiscent of matcha ten years ago: first niche, reserved for insiders and specialty shops, before gradual adoption by larger retailers. For now, the best way in remains brands that work directly with the origin, able to guarantee the traceability and purity of their powder.

At Vytal Oya, our OYA Original powder is sourced in the Ilocos Region, in the north of the island of Luzon, an agricultural region where ube is grown on small family plots, then processed by a partner certified FSSC 22000, ISO 22000 and cGMP.

How to try ube for the first time without getting it wrong?

For a successful first taste, choose a 100% pure ube powder, with no additives or colourings, and prepare it simply as a hot or iced latte: 5 to 8 g of powder in 200 ml of hot plant-based milk, whisked until fully dissolved.

The main pitfall, in a category exploding this fast, is the proliferation of poorly formulated products: powders cut with maltodextrin, artificially coloured to make up for a lack of natural pigment, or mixed with other ingredients without clearly saying so. Always check the ingredient list: a single ingredient, ube, is the minimum acceptable to judge the real quality of the tuber, regardless of any marketing packaging.

Its purple colour comes from a natural concentration of anthocyanins, antioxidant pigments for which a study published in Food Science & Nutrition demonstrated significant antioxidant activity once purified (1). A pure, well-processed powder retains more of them than a diluted or overly processed version.