Tour of the soon to be opening Trader Joe's grocery store in Portland. The new store is located on Marginal Way in Portland. (Photo by John Ewing/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
FOOD NEWS
The Fan Favorite Trader Joe's Ice Cream That Comes Back Year After Year
By Alli Neal
purple yams or taro of different shapes and sizes
Since 2019, Ube season at Trader Joe's has traditionally kicked off in April or May. The brand sells Ube Pretzels, Ube Tea Cookies, Ube Mochi Pancakes, and famously, Ube Ice Cream.
Tub of Trader Joe's Ube Ice Cream
Though Trader Joe's website doesn't list either the ice cream or the mochi ice cream as available yet, it's promising its return and hoping the stock will last through mid-summer.
Purple Yam, known locally as Ube, for sale a public market in Tagaytay.
Ube is a yam native to Asia that is most commonly bright purple. It's a tuber like potatoes and sweet potatoes, but it grows on an above-ground vine.
Puerile yam puree on pink background
Before commercialization, ube was considered sacred to the Bohol province of the Philippines. Legend has it that when famine struck, ube was the only food source.
Close up of a glass of halohalo, a Filipino cold dessert made with crushed ice, evaporated milk, ube, sweetened beans, coconut julienes, sago, gulaman (seaweed gelatin), pinipig rice, boiled root crops in cubes, fruit slices, flan, and topped with a scoop of purple yam ice cream
Beyond historical importance, ube is also loved for its flavor: vanilla and pistachio with a hint of coconut. It's taken the U.S. by storm, from fluffy pandesal rolls to halo halo.
purple yams or taro of different shapes and sizes
Unfortunately, ube production is waning. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, ube production fell from 30,074 metric tons in 2006 to 13,957 metric tons in 2020.
Aerial view of a cyclone
Severe weather due to climate change is heavily to blame for this deficit, as conditions are too waterlogged some years, but the drought is too serious in other years.
A bowl of ube ice cream
Because it uses real ube in its treats, Trader Joe's stock is very limited. Its website states, “We have limited supply — hopefully enough to get us to mid-summer.”