Britain’s Ube Craze May End as Philippine Exports Fall

It comes from the Philippines.

People use it in sweet food.

They put it in ice cream, cakes, and drinks.

A cafe in north London sells ube ice-cream sandwiches.

The owner says ube becomes even more popular.

Where can people find this purple food?

They can find it in lattes and pastries.

Pret A Manger sold an ube iced latte.

It was a summer drink in 2025.

Starbucks and Costa also sold ube drinks this year.

So, ube is now popular with big coffee companies.

But fresh ube exports have stopped.

Yes. The Philippines has stopped fresh ube exports.

The country needs materials for growing plants.

Planting material helps farmers grow new plants.

The government also wants control of the crop.

It does not want other countries to compete with Philippine ube.

Can European customers still buy ube products?

Yes. Frozen and processed products can still be sold.

These products are important in Europe and the United States.

But one London restaurant owner cannot get fresh ube now.

He has enough stock for one year.

He says ube could become a luxury product.

Is the Philippines producing more ube?

Yes. Production rose 17 percent this year.

It reached 5,660 tonnes in six months.

But the industry is growing faster than production.

Some people still enjoy new ube foods.

One customer calls it a taste from home.

Thank you, Owen.

Next, drones may bring defibrillators faster.

Sophie is LinguaWire's correspondent for technology.

Thank you, Daniel. Researchers studied this idea.

A defibrillator is a machine that helps restart the heart.

Drones could take one to a person quickly.

The study looked at cardiac arrests outside hospitals.

In the United Kingdom, there are over 30,000 each year.

Fewer than one in ten people survive cardiac arrests.

Why is speed important in these emergencies?

Each minute without treatment lowers the chance of survival.

The chance falls by 10 percent each minute.

Treatment includes chest compressions and shocks for stopped hearts.

Defibrillation uses the machine to help the heart.

Researchers wanted people to get this help sooner.

What places did the researchers study?

They studied areas around Paris in France.

They looked at 28,349 cardiac arrests.

These events happened between 2011 and 2024.

Central Paris was not part of the study.

The team also checked 1,893 fixed machines.

These machines were in different places.

Only 30 percent of cases were near one.

What did the researchers discover about drones?

Drones could improve access with fewer machines.

The drones would fly from special bases.

Each base could serve people within about four kilometres.

With 100 bases and 26 extra machines, area reached by service passed 97 percent.

People would be near a machine or within about four kilometres of a drone base.

Does this mean drones are ready everywhere?

No. The researchers studied possible use.

Their work suggests drones could help.

More fixed machines would also improve coverage.

The study compared different ways to reach patients.

The goal is early treatment for cardiac arrest.

Thank you, Sophie.

Part one: three useful words from our first story.

Root means the part of a plant under the ground.

In the story, “Ube is a purple root.”

A carrot is a root.

Crop means plants grown for food.

In the story, “The government also wants control of the crop.”

Rice is an important crop.

Frozen means kept very cold.

In the story, “Frozen and processed products can still be sold.”

We bought frozen peas.

Part two: the grammar.

Production rose 17 percent this year.

Rule: Use the simple past for completed actions in the past; regular verbs end in ed, and irregular verbs have special forms.

Forms: I studied; you studied; he or she studied; we studied; you studied; they studied.

“Production rose 17 percent this year.”

The team studied many heart arrests.

Repeat after me: Production rose 17 percent this year.