{"id":848550,"date":"2026-08-09T00:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T00:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848550\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T00:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T00:38:14","slug":"sugarloaf-cabbage-takes-the-spotlight-as-vegetable-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848550\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugarloaf cabbage takes the spotlight as vegetable of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vegetable that is more known as a side dish than the main character is back in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Surging searches for cabbage on Google and Pinterest have driven media outlets Vogue and The New York Times to name cabbage the vegetable of the year.<\/p>\n

Cabbage, a member of the brassica family like broccoli and kale, has long been celebrated for its variety of uses from coleslaw to cabbage rolls.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Duncan Welgemoed was first introduced to sugarloaf cabbage while working in the UK. (Supplied: Duncan Welgemoed)<\/p>\n

But top chefs such as Duncan Welgemoed from Africola in Adelaide are part of a growing fanbase for sugarloaf cabbage, a conical-shaped variety that is getting a cult-like status.<\/p>\n

“It’s one of our most popular vegetables for sure,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think some people haven’t had sugarloaf cabbage before, but it is incredibly moreish.<\/p>\n

“We go through hundreds a week.”<\/p>\n

So what does it taste like? It has less sulphur and more sweetness than your traditional cabbage.<\/p>\n

At his restaurant, Mr Welgemoed serves sugarloaf cabbage roasted in butter and thyme, seasoned with salt and pepper, and finished with a Caesar dressing.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The vegetable is a versatile addition to any home chef’s repertoire, according to Mr Welgemoed.<\/p>\n

“They’re delicate enough to eat raw and they’re hardy enough to really roast,” he said.<\/p>\n

“When you buy it, it’s enough for two people as opposed to when you buy a savoy cabbage or a white cabbage, you’ve got to find multiple uses for it within your cooking week because they’re so large.<\/p>\n

“With the sugarloaf cabbage, that’s a one-and-done.”<\/p>\n

Sweet, nutritious, cheap<\/p>\n

As a long-time fan of sugarloaf cabbage, Mr Welgemoed said it had become easier to source in recent years.<\/p>\n

“They used to be super hyper-seasonal; you could only get them in Australia for like once a year in very short bursts,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But then, due to demand and popularity, particularly from the commercial side, we started to see more and more through the market.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Penny Reidy says sugarloaf cabbage is a relatively cheap and versatile option. (Supplied: Penny Reidy)<\/p>\n

SA Produce Markets marketing manager Penny Reidy said it was good to see a “forgotten” vegetable like cabbage rise in popularity.<\/p>\n

She said sugarloaf cabbage could be used in many ways and nutritionally, it was a great source of vitamin C and fibre.<\/p>\n

“People that are a little bit more adventurous and don’t just want their normal greens on their salads or in their stir-fries can finely slice it instead of using lettuce,” she said.<\/p>\n

“You add it to your burgers, you wrap your sandwich [in it], stir-fry it, grill it or roast wedges with olive oil, but you can also add it to soups and casseroles or cold sauce.”<\/p>\n

\"cabbage<\/p>\n

Sugarloaf cabbage (not pictured) has less sulphur and more sweetness than traditional cabbage. (ABC News: Adel Fruean)<\/p>\n

Beyond the nutritional benefits, Ms Reidy said sugarloaf cabbage was a relatively cheap option that had a long shelf life.<\/p>\n

“If you buy it and think you’re going to do something with but then you forget for a week, the good thing is that it’s not going to go rotten overnight,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So there’s definitely some demand there for it in the cost-of-living crisis that we’re having and for people looking to stretch their budget.”Sourcing sugarloaf<\/p>\n

Despite a growing interest in sugarloaf cabbage among foodies, finding a farmer that grows them is tricky.<\/p>\n

Paul Schreurs is the youngest son of three brothers in Peter Schreurs and Sons, who have grown cabbage their whole lives at a farm in Devon Meadows, just outside Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Paul Schreurs at his farm in Devon Meadows, about 50km south-east of Melbourne. (Supplied: Schreurs & Sons)<\/p>\n

He said the family had experimented with other cabbage varieties, including Chinese and mini cabbage, before specialising in sugarloaf.<\/p>\n

The second-generation Victorian farmer described it as sweet and versatile.<\/p>\n

“It’s very palatable eating it raw and it cooks up very easily, so it’s not like your old tough drumhead cabbage that needs a lot of cooking,” Mr Schreurs said.<\/p>\n

“I believe it’s the best-tasting cabbage out of all of them.”<\/p>\n

Mr Schreurs said while sugarloaf could be grown year-round, farmers could be reluctant to invest in supply if the demand was not strong enough to scale up production.<\/p>\n

He added that sometimes, consumers who had only purchased sugarloaf because other types of cabbage were not available ended up being converted to sugarloaf.<\/p>\n

“Our biggest success with sugarloaf cabbage getting more customers on board is when there’s been a shortage of other cabbages,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’ve then discovered, ‘Oh, this is actually quite a good cabbage’ and we’ve had a lot of repeat sales.”<\/p>\n

More news from regional SA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vegetable that is more known as a side dish than the main character is back in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,419460,8374,419463,419461,419462,27616],"class_list":["post-848550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-cabbage","tag-new-york-times","tag-schreurs-sons","tag-sugarloaf-cabbage","tag-vegetable-of-the-year","tag-vogue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}