(The CEN News / Reporter Kim Sun-ah) Purple is the color taking over café menus right now. From lattes and shakes to cakes, ube-based items are popping up everywhere — suggesting ube might be the next big dessert craze after recent hits like dujjonkku and butter tteok.
Industry insiders say ube, a staple ingredient in Southeast Asia, looks similar to a sweet potato but tastes different. It has a soft, subtle sweetness with a hint of vanilla, and it naturally turns a vivid purple without any food dye. That eye-catching color plays perfectly on social media, helping ube become a global food-and-drink trend and quickly land on café menus here.
Franchise chains have moved fast. On the 6th, Twosome Place rolled out an ube series featuring three drinks and one dessert. Its star, the Twosome Ube Latte, shot to No. 1 among non-coffee drinks and No. 4 overall within three days of launch — an impressive feat for a non-espresso beverage. Some customers even upgraded by adding an espresso shot to make an Ube Café Latte.
Starbucks jumped on the trend on the 14th, launching an Ube Basque Cheesecake at 100 stores nationwide. By highlighting ube’s flavor and its signature purple hue, the chain tapped into the social media habit of treating visually striking “purple desserts” as shareable content.
Ube is quickly becoming a café must-have. Independent spots are also introducing ube drinks and sweets as they try to keep pace. Industry watchers say the pattern mirrors how past dessert fads spread nationwide via social platforms, so ube could easily become a major trend.
But the ingredient’s rapid rise has sparked quality concerns. Some shops focus only on getting the color right without understanding ube’s unique flavor, and others label items as ube even when they’re made with purple sweet potato.
Choi, 25, who first tried ube overseas, said, "I visited several cafés during the ube craze here, but some places used purple sweet potatoes and still called it ube. We need a proper understanding of the ingredient rather than just following a trend."
Photo: Twosome Place
(The CEN News) Reporter Kim Sun-ah press@mhns.co.kr
