Cabbage has been the workhorse of the vegetable aisle, long before before there was even a vegetable aisle. Healthy, reliable, and about as exciting as your uncle’s golf stories. But a new variety bred for sweetness and tenderness is trying to change its humdrum reputation. Meet Sugarcone, the cabbage that thinks it’s not a cabbage.
How Is Sugarcone Cabbage Different?
Unlike the hefty round heads most of us are used to, Sugarcone is a pointed-head cabbage that tips the scales at just one to two pounds. Its conical shape sets it apart, and its thin, tender leaves carry a natural sweetness that’s a far cry from the sulfur-tinged bite of your average green ball. The creators of Sugarcone cabbage describe their product as “a sweet, juicy, pointed-head variety whose arrival is a gentle rebuke to everything we’ve accepted about what cabbage should be. It’s tender, flavorful, and totally delicious.” It’s the kind of cabbage that could hold its own in a salad bowl, or even steal the spotlight as a cookout side dish.
Where Sugarcone Came From
The Sugarcone variety launched September 15, 2025, and will be in limited distribution through mid-November. For now, that means about 325 Whole Foods Market stores across California, the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, and Texas. Translation: you can’t just stroll into any supermarket and expect to find one…yet. This is more like the vegetable world’s version of a limited-edition drop—you’ll have to know where to look and get there before they’re gone.
Behind the scenes, Sugarcone has some serious breeding chops. The seed is produced by Bejo Seeds, a Dutch company with more than a century of experience developing vegetables for flavor, resilience, and organic farming. Bejo is well known for its pointed-head cabbages, prized by chefs for their mild flavor and fast cooking ability. In partnership with Row 7 Seed Company—co-founded by chef Dan Barber, who’s made a career out of pushing vegetables beyond their stereotypes—they’ve created a cabbage designed to please both professional chefs and curious home cooks alike.
Tracking Down Your Sugarcone Cabbage
Row 7 is giving shoppers a “Trace” tool to see where Sugarcone is grown and by whom. The first wave is coming from a network of organic farms committed to sustainability and flavor, which helps explain the limited rollout. This isn’t mass-market farming—it’s closer to a small-batch release.
The Final Bite
Whether Sugarcone becomes a niche favorite or the cabbage that finally wins over steadfast slaw-haters remains to be seen. For now, if you spot one in your local Whole Foods, grab it. Worst case, you’ve got bragging rights. Best case, you’ve found the first cabbage that made it into your dinnertime conversation.
