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In a minimalist matcha bar in Los Angeles, in the United States, Japanese powder tea is precisely prepared, despite a global shortage caused by the celebrity of the social media of the brilliant green drink.
Of the 25 types of matcha on the Kettl Tea menu, which opened its doors on Hollywood Boulevard this year, all except four were out of stock, according to the founder of the store, Zach Mangan.
“One of the things we have trouble is to tell customers that, unfortunately, we don’t have” what they want, “he said.
With its deep grassy aroma, its intense colors and its collection effects, the popularity of Matcha “has developed in an exponential way in the last decade, but much more in the last two to three years,” said the 40 -year -old.
It is now “a point of cultural contact in the Western world” – found everywhere, plates of ice flavor in Starbucks.
This made the Matcha market were almost double more than a year, said Mangan.
“No matter what we are trying, just there is no more to buy.”
In the Japanese city of Sayama, northwest of Tokyo, Masahiro Okutomi – the 15th generation to manage the tea production activities of his family – is overwhelmed by demand.
“I had to put on our website that we no longer accept matcha orders,” he said.
Powder production is an intensive process: the leaves, called “tercha”, are shaded for several weeks before harvest, to concentrate taste and nutrients.
They are then carefully made by hand, dried and finely crushed in a machine.
“It takes years of training” to do matcha properly, said Okutomi. “It is a long -term company that requires equipment, work and investments.”
“I’m glad the world is interested in our matcha … But in the short term, it’s almost a threat-we just can’t follow,” he said.
Matcha Boom was propelled by online influencers like Andie Ella, who has more than 600,000 subscribers on YouTube and launched his own Matcha product brand.
In the Pastel-Rose Pop-Up boutique, she opened in the Hip Harajuku district of Tokyo, dozens of fans were enthusiastically waiting to take a photo with the 23-year-old French or buy her Matcha cans with strawberry or white chocolate.
“Matcha is visually very attractive,” said Ella.
To date, its Matcha brand, produced in the rural region of Japan Mie, has sold 133,000 cans. Launched in November 2023, he now has eight employees.
“The demand has not stopped growing,” she said.
Last year, Matcha represented more than half of the 8,798 tonnes of exported green tea from Japan, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture of Japan – twice as much 10 years ago.
The Tokyo JudgeSudo tea shop, in the old tourist area of the Tsukiji fish market, is trying to control its stock levels given the growing demand.
“We do not strictly impose the purchasing limits, but we sometimes refuse to sell large quantities to customers suspected of reselling,” said store director Shigehito Nishikida.
“Over the past two or three years, the craze has intensified. Customers now want to make matcha themselves, as they see on social networks,” he added.
The World Matcha market is estimated at billions of dollars, but it could be affected by the prices of US President Donald Trump on Japanese products – currently 10%, with a 24% increase in cards.
Shortages and prices mean “we have to increase prices. We don’t take it lightly, “Mangan told Kettl Tea, although he has not attenuated the request so far.
“Customers say:” I want matcha before it is exhausted “.”
The Japanese government encourages tea producers to grow on a larger scale to reduce costs.
But that may sacrifice quality and “in small rural areas, it’s almost impossible,” said Okutomi.
The number of tea plantations in Japan fell to a quarter of what it was 20 years ago, as farmers age and find it difficult to obtain successors, he added.
“The training of a new generation takes time … It cannot be improvised.”
