Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Matcha

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1750915478745payoon-gerinto-A1FPTdsSFM4-unsplash.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Matcha photo by Payoon Gerinto/Unsplash</span></span></span></div><p>LOS ANGELES, United States — At a minimalist Los Angeles matcha bar, powdered Japanese tea is prepared with precision, despite a global shortage driven by the bright green drink&#x27;s social media stardom.</p><p>Of the 25 types of matcha on the menu at Kettl Tea, which opened on Hollywood Boulevard this year, all but four were out of stock, the shop&#x27;s founder Zach Mangan told AFP.</p><p>&quot;One of the things we struggle with is telling customers that, unfortunately, we don&#x27;t have&quot; what they want, he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/food/restaurants/5-must-try-items-at-the-matcha-tokyo-at-opus-mall/38917">5 Must-Try Items At The New Matcha Tokyo</a></div><p>With its deep grassy aroma, intense color and pick-me-up effects, the popularity of matcha &quot;has grown just exponentially over the last decade, but much more so in the last two to three years,&quot; the 40-year-old explained.</p><p>It is now &quot;a cultural touchpoint in the Western world&quot; -- found everywhere from ice-cream flavor boards to Starbucks.</p><p>This has caused matcha&#x27;s market to nearly double over a year, Mangan said.</p><p>&quot;No matter what we try, there&#x27;s just not more to buy.&quot;</p><p>Thousands of miles (kilometers) away in Sayama, northwest of Tokyo, Masahiro Okutomi -- the 15th generation to run his family&#x27;s tea business -- is overwhelmed by demand.</p><p>&quot;I had to put on our website that we are not accepting any more matcha orders,&quot; he said.</p><p>Producing the powder is an intensive process: the leaves, called &quot;tencha,&quot; are shaded for several weeks before harvest, to concentrate the taste and nutrients.</p><p>They are then carefully deveined by hand, dried and finely ground in a machine.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;LONG-TERM ENDEAVOR&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>&quot;It takes years of training&quot; to make matcha properly, Okutomi said. &quot;It&#x27;s a long-term endeavor requiring equipment, labor and investment.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m glad the world is taking an interest in our matcha... but in the short term, it&#x27;s almost a threat -- we just can&#x27;t keep up,&quot; he said.</p><p>The matcha boom has been fueled by online influencers like Andie Ella, who has more than 600,000 subscribers on YouTube and started her own brand of matcha products.</p><p>At the pastel-pink pop-up shop she opened in Tokyo&#x27;s hip Harajuku district, dozens of fans were excitedly waiting to take a photo with the 23-year-old Frenchwoman or buy her cans of strawberry or white chocolate flavored matcha.</p><p>&quot;Matcha is visually very appealing,&quot; Ella told AFP.</p><p>To date, her matcha brand, produced in Japan&#x27;s rural Mie region, has sold 133,000 cans. Launched in November 2023, it now has eight employees.</p><p>&quot;Demand has not stopped growing,&quot; she said.</p><p>In 2024, matcha accounted for over half of the 8,798 tons of green tea exported from Japan, according to agriculture ministry data -- twice as much as a decade ago.</p><p>Tokyo tea shop Jugetsudo, in the touristy former fish market area of Tsukiji, is trying to control its stock levels given the escalating demand.</p><p>&quot;We don&#x27;t strictly impose purchase limits, but we sometimes refuse to sell large quantities to customers suspected of reselling,&quot; said store manager Shigehito Nishikida.</p><p>&quot;In the past two or three years, the craze has intensified: customers now want to make matcha themselves, like they see on social media,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>TARIFF THREAT</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Anita Jordan, a 49-year-old Australian tourist in Japan, said her &quot;kids are obsessed with matcha.&quot;</p><p>&quot;They sent me on a mission to find the best one,&quot; she laughed.</p><p>The global matcha market is estimated to be worth billions of dollars, but it could be hit by US President Donald Trump&#x27;s tariffs on Japanese products -- currently 10 percent, with a hike to 24 percent in the cards.</p><p>Shortages and tariffs mean &quot;we do have to raise prices. We don&#x27;t take it lightly,&quot; said Mangan at Kettl Tea, though it hasn&#x27;t dampened demand so far.</p><p>&quot;Customers are saying: &#x27;I want matcha, before it runs out&#x27;.&quot;</p><p>At Kettl Tea, matcha can be mixed with milk in a latte or enjoyed straight, hand-whisked with hot water in a ceramic bowl to better appreciate its subtle taste.</p><p>It&#x27;s not a cheap treat: the latter option costs at least $10 per glass, while 20 grams (0.7 ounces) of powder to make the drink at home is priced between $25 and $150.</p><p>Japan&#x27;s government is encouraging tea producers to farm on a larger scale to reduce costs.</p><p>But that risks sacrificing quality, and &quot;in small rural areas, it&#x27;s almost impossible,&quot; grower Okutomi said.</p><p>The number of tea plantations in Japan has fallen to a quarter of what it was 20 years ago, as farmers age and find it difficult to secure successors, he added.</p><p>&quot;Training a new generation takes time... It can&#x27;t be improvised,&quot; Okutomi said.</p><div><strong>— By Romain Fonsegrives, with Caroline Gardin in Tokyo, Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v0M8CB0gfkM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RBLP6bVnelw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>With its deep grassy aroma, intense color and pick-me-up effects, the popularity of matcha has grown exponentially over the last decade.</p>

With its deep grassy aroma, intense color and pick-me-up effects, the popularity of matcha has grown exponentially over the last decade.

Global matcha 'obsession' drinks Japan tea farms dry

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Global matcha 'obsession' drinks Japan tea farms dry

Agence France-Presse

Published June 26, 2025 01:27 PM PHT

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