Baguio’s famous ube jam: From purple to white

MANILA, Philippines — Same taste, different color. 

Citing lack of supply of purple yam, the Religious of the Good Shepherd in Baguio City, maker of the famous ube jam, now sells only white ube jams. 

“Climate emergency is real,” the congregation wrote in a post on Facebook yesterday. “Due to changing climate, our farmers are having difficulty growing ube.”

“El Niño damaged the produce of purple ube growers. They will start harvesting again next month. In the meantime they started digging white ube,” Good Shephered product development head Guadalupe Bautista told The STAR.

Bautista said the latest delivery was 2,000 kilos of white yam, which they bought for P45 per kilo.

Good Shepherd sources its yam from Ilocos provinces, La Union and Benguet.

‘Just as good’

“White ube. Yes there is such thing. And it is the available supply at the moment... it is just as good as the purple one,” Good Shepherd said.

The mission expressed gratitude to those who continue to support its social enterprise, which helps provide for the education of the youth in the Cordilleras. 

It also called on ube jam lovers to do their share in caring for the environment and calling for climate justice.

“Let’s do this not only because we love ube jam, but because we #CareForOurCommonHome,” Good Shepherd said.  — Louise Maureen Simeon