Marukyu Koyamaen Main Plant

A Matcha Shortage Hits TikTok’s Favorite Japanese Tea Brands | Eater

"A major matcha supplier in Uji, outside Kyoto, with both a cafe and retail presence experienced an intense surge in demand: on a recent trip Zach Mangan (owner of Brooklyn-based Kettl) spoke to its representatives and learned that "They did roughly six months of sales in a little less than a month," Mangan says, and, as of this writing, every pure matcha powder on the supplier's international online store is listed as sold out. Matcha begins as shade-grown tea leaves known as tencha, and the highest-grade tencha leaves are harvested only once a year, typically between mid-April and the end of May, explains Mangan; "It’s not like it’s just growing there and you can do another harvest real quick," he says, and changes in climate — Japan’s warmer conditions — are making harvests less predictable in both yield and labor needs. The Japan-based tea company Sazen notes that demand "quickly depleted existing stocks," and that milling facilities needed to turn tencha into matcha have hit capacity because many are small businesses rather than large factories; Sazen adds that at least four manufacturers it works with are experiencing supply shortages over their "entire matcha portfolio" and have suspended sales. Mangan says some producers and retailers are already adjusting allocation and pricing, and while he feels confident about Kettl’s supply chain, he acknowledges some offerings are sold out: for certain products, "no matter how much we pray or hope that there’ll be more, there’s limits." He also emphasizes storage and shelf-life realities to shoppers — "they're not Amazon products that you just have all year," he says, and "I still wouldn’t recommend having a year’s supply," recommending about three months' worth stored properly — and he frames the situation optimistically, arguing that "I would say the higher demand is the positive of the two scenarios." - Bettina Makalintal