Sorry to all matcha latte-lovers, but the global demand for the brat-green beverage might’ve all but depleted Japan’s national supply — with Japanese media having reported a matcha shortage throughout the country since last year.
According to the Japan Times, the soaring popularity of the green tea powder — which is also sprinkled onto desserts and into chocolate — has led to an “unprecedented strain” on Japan’s tea industry.
Check up on your matcha-loving mates, we’re not OK. (Source: Getty Images)
Last year, two of Japan’s largest tea companies, Ippodo and Marukyu Koyamaen, announced purchase limits on matcha products for the first time ever, due to the rising demand across the globe.
Locals and tourists alike have found that matcha in many stores and cafes were largely sold out in the country last year.
With Japan only just entering its annual matcha harvest in April, concerns about a nationwide and global shortage have sparked up again. The majority of matcha products in Japan can only be harvested once a year.
Harvesting matcha is a particularly slow process, as the matcha tea leaves grown on shrubs can take up to five years to mature, and the machines that process the tea leaves can only make a limited amount of matcha powder at a time.
Japan has only just entered its annual harvest season. (Source: Getty Images)
While the harvest of matcha will bring some “temporary relief” to Japan’s supply, it does not provide a “long-term solution”. Matcha as a whole produced within the country grew from 1471 tonnes in 2010 to 4176 tonnes in 2023, per the Japan Times.
Australia is feeling the effects of the matcha shortage, with founder of matcha brand Matcha Society Alan Huynh telling 9honey Kitchen that he noticed his business beginning to “heat up” last year.
“Every month after that, it’s been a 50 to 100 per cent growth month on month,” Huynh told the outlet.
“So that pretty much means that we need to keep a very clear and concise relationship with our farmers in Japan, so that they constantly communicate to us what the lead time’s like and how much things are going to cost, because at the moment everything’s a bit of a frenzy with prices.”
But will we see a complete depletion of matcha-based products? The good news is that, according to a the Global Japanese Tea Association report, the answer is “not exactly”.
“In the meantime, there’s no need to worry: the spring harvest is just around the corner, and fresh matcha will soon be produced,” the report read.
“As always, we do not have all the answers, but we leave the debate open – though with some satisfaction that Japanese tea is gaining well-deserved attention on the global stage.”
The drink has a rich history within the country and has been consumed in Japan since the 12th Century, when Buddhist monks from China brought matcha to the region.
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