This is no ordinary sweet potato offering.

Häagen-Dazs has been spoiling its Japanese customers with unusual flavours specifically geared towards local tastes for a number of years now, and while many of the company’s limited-edition releases have showcased well-known ingredients like matcha green tea and adzuki red beans, now it’s time for a unique sweet potato to step out into the limelight as the star flavour this fall.

The new ice cream treat pays homage to “Annou Imo”, a special type of potato with an extra-high sugar content and flavourful orange-hued flesh,  which is grown on Tanegashima, an island to the south of Kyushu.

Many of Japan’s sweet potato desserts revolve around the purple-hued Beni Imo sweet potato or the yellow-fleshed Satsuma Imo, so the chance to enjoy an Annou Imo-flavoured ice cream is one that Japanese customers will definitely be looking forward to.

Not only is Annou Imo sweet and delicious, it’s also rich in beneficial carotenoids, meaning it’s good for your health too. According to Häagen-Dazs, the new ice cream will have all the same rich sweetness as the real Annou Imo itself, thanks to the addition of potato pieces, which will appear in both the ice cream and the thick, rich honey-like sauce at the centre of the new dessert.

The mini tubs will retail for 294 yen (US$2.70) each at supermarkets and convenience stores around Japan from 3 October. With any luck, other retailers like the Ministop convenience store chain will join in the autumn flavour festival with more Annou Imo-flavoured treats to help ease us into the cooler months this year as well!

Source: Häagen-Dazs Japan
Featured image: Häagen-Dazs Japan
Insert images: Wikipedia/田村 義邦