Demand for Matcha is escalating globally, but Japanese farmlands struggle to satisfy the growing demand.
In the heart of Japan, the Morii family and their team are adapting to the increasingly erratic climate. They are using special tea fans or covering fields with sheets to protect them from frost and pushing back the timing of their final trimming (shiage). Despite the difficulties, they opted for a high-quality electric mill due to the scarcity of stone mill bookings.
The surge in global matcha popularity, fuelled by health trends, social media, and international tourism, has intensified demand beyond Japan’s production capacity. This demand has led to a global shortage and rising costs due to extreme weather, climate change, and new tariffs on Japanese imports.
The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture announced subsidies for certain tea factories looking to convert to tencha production to increase the cultivation and supply of matcha. However, the process of converting to tencha production can cost millions of dollars and would require small, often family-run businesses to take out disproportionately large loans.
The demand for matcha, particularly "ceremonial" matcha, has depleted stocks in Japan and left many shops without stock until the next harvest. In Kyoto, auction prices for matcha have skyrocketed, sometimes reaching 300% to 400% higher than the previous year's. Masakazu Morii, a fourth-generation tea farmer in Kyoto, has noticed a rise in demand for matcha and has had to raise prices due to limited supply. The current harvest is 10% smaller than last spring’s due to droughts and the country’s hottest summer on record so far.
The global matcha industry currently faces critical challenges from escalating demand, extreme weather, and climate change, which have led to severe supply shortages and price surges. Rising temperatures in Japan, particularly in key matcha-producing regions such as Kyoto and Uji, have damaged tea crops like tencha, reducing yields significantly—some varieties saw production drops as steep as 40% between 2024 and 2025.
The labor-intensive nature of matcha production and an aging farmer population with insufficient younger replacements further compound the problem. There are only 50 stone mill carvers in the country, many of whom are retiring with no younger apprentices primed to take over the business.
Solutions being explored or proposed include:
- Sustainability and Agricultural Adaptation: Efforts to develop heat-resistant or more climate-resilient tea cultivars are necessary to combat the effects of rising temperatures. Shading and cultivation techniques may be refined to maintain leaf quality despite warmer weather.
- Labor Innovations and Mechanization: Given the labor-intensive traditional methods and demographic challenges, some producers are exploring mechanization and recruiting younger farmers to sustain production levels.
- Supply Chain Management and Demand Control: Producers and retailers are limiting purchase quantities and prioritizing orders to manage scarcity, while some markets face rationing to stretch available supplies.
- Diversification of Growing Regions: Expanding cultivation beyond traditional areas like Kyoto to other regions with suitable climates could mitigate localized climate impacts, though the unique flavor profiles of Uji matcha pose challenges to this strategy.
The matcha hype peaked in mid-2024 when TikToks featuring matcha sold by Marukyu Koyamaen went viral, causing the brand to sell out of a half-year’s worth of matcha in one month. Claudia Boyer, a London-based marketing agency owner with a background in nutrition, fell in love with matcha in the mid 2010s. She launched JENKI Matcha in 2020, a business that specializes in matcha, and aims to expand nationwide and globally, with three locations across London already.
Asian creators have called out the detachment of matcha from its Zen origins in the West and the potential erasure of Chinese history in the mainstreaming of matcha. Despite this, the vibrant green color of matcha is seen as a natural marketing advantage. Matcha as a flavoring began in Japan in the 1990s when Western corporations like Haagen Dazs introduced products using lower grade matcha.
The vast majority of Japanese people don’t drink matcha in the way it’s consumed in the West, such as in lattes or ice creams. This underscores the global appeal and potential for growth of the matcha industry, despite the current challenges. The industry's future will rely on a combination of agricultural innovation, workforce renewal, and strategic market management to sustain this culturally and economically significant product.
- In response to the growing popularity of matcha and the resulting supply shortages, the Morii family in Japan decided to invest in a high-quality electric mill for their tea farming business.
- The community of small, family-run tea factories in Japan faces financial strains as they consider converting to tencha production to increase matcha supply, a costly process that requires substantial loans.
- To combat climate change's impacts on matcha tea crops, researchers are developing heat-resistant and climate-resilient tea cultivars, while producers are exploring mechanization to maintain production levels and stem the exodus of younger farmers from the industry.
