From the shores of India’s Andaman Islands to the shelves of Waitrose: butterfly pea flower, nicknamed ‘blue gold’, is brewing a quiet revolution in the drinks aisle. This vivid indigo bloom, once used only in traditional teas and dyes, now boasts a modest but fast-growing food-and-drink sector in South Asia. And with UK free trade talks set to resume in early 2025, industry watchers predict a surge in imports of the natural colourant and its ready-to-drink concoctions.
For British consumers, the deep blue tint means Instagram-worthy lattes and ‘mood drinks’ that change colour with lemon juice. For the farmers of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, it means a chance to escape the low margins of subsistence rice cultivation. The global butterfly pea flower market was valued at roughly $55m in 2023 and is forecast to triple by 2030, according to a report from Markets and Markets. India accounts for about a quarter of global production.
Yet behind the trendy tag lies a fragile supply chain. Smallholders harvest the flowers by hand, dry them on tarps in the sun, and sell to middlemen for 350 rupees (£3.30) a kilo. The price has risen 40% in two years, spurring farmers to convert plots from sugarcane and cotton. But without a trade deal, the 20% tariff on dried flowers and a 12% tariff on extracts curb the ability of UK importers to scale up. 'We can’t compete with Thai and Vietnamese producers who have zero tariffs under the EU-Vietnam deal,' said Ramesh Patel, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Flower Growers Cooperative. 'If the UK slashes duties, we could double our exports within a year.'
The drinks industry is the keenest suitor. UK-based Fentimans, known for its botanically brewed sodas, launched a blue pea flower and ginger beer in 2023. A spokesperson told the BBC: 'The colour is completely natural and responds to UK demand for clean label ingredients. But we have to pay a premium that makes it a niche product.' Without tariff reductions, the price difference versus artificial blue dye is 30-40%.
Trade talks stumbled earlier this year over issues of intellectual property and migration. But a government source said the insect flower sector was 'low-hanging fruit' and could be included in an interim deal. 'We want to get this over the line quickly to show the benefits of a trade agreement to British consumers and Indian farmers,' the source said.
Not everyone is convinced. Critics argue that an import boom could replicate the pitfalls of other cash crops. 'We saw what happened with quinoa and kale,' said Dr. Amrita Sen, an agricultural economist at Jadavpur University. 'When global demand spikes, local prices rise, and the poorest families can no longer afford the traditional ingredient. Then the market shifts and farmers are left stranded.'
Still, for the flower farmers of India's southern districts, the promise of a British market is better than no market at all. As one farmer in Thiruvanamalai put it: 'We grow something blue. They see gold. Let us both benefit.'
