The popularity of quinoa, a South American grain which is increasingly used as an alternative to rice, is soaring in the Netherlands, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

In 2012, domestic consumption reached some 267,000 kilos but by 2016 that had grown to over two million kilos, the CBS said.

The Netherlands also imported 5.5 million kilos of quinoa seats in 2016, some 3.5 million kilos of which was re-exported. Peru remains the most important origin of quinoa, followed by Bolivia and Chile.

Dutch farmers have now begun growing the crop, albeit on a limited scale. Some 20 farms are now experimenting with quinoa, but fewer than 100 hectares of Dutch farmland are devoted it to it.