Green gold: Why matcha is suddenly in short supply

Bright green and with a taste that some find unusual, this tea powder is very much en vogue. Driven in particular by influencers, global demand has increased so much that farmers in Japan can no longer keep up with it. Within a year, the price of this "green gold" has almost tripled, and in many places matcha drinks are now sold out.

Proper preparation is crucial: Matcha should always be sifted, otherwise lumps will form that impair the taste and consistency. Only fine, airy powder can be whipped into a creamy foam with the special bamboo whisk.

Thousands of kilometers away in Sayama, northwest of Tokyo, Masahiro Okutomi is overwhelmed by demand. He is the 15th generation to run his family's tea company. "I had to put on our website that we are not accepting any more matcha orders," he says.

The production of "green gold" is a complex process: Several weeks before harvest, the tea bushes are shaded to enhance flavor and nutrients. The leaves are then carefully picked by hand, dried and ground into a fine powder. "It takes years of training to make matcha properly," says Okutomi.

"I'm glad the world is taking an interest in our matcha, but in the short term, it's almost a threat — we just can't keep up," says the experienced tea farmer, showing the freshly dried tea leaves. In 2024, matcha accounted for more than half of the 8,798 tons of green tea exported by Japan, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, twice as much as ten years ago.

"Of the 25 types of matcha on the menu, all but four were out of stock," says Zach Mangan in Los Angeles, for example. The 40-year-old only opened the "Kettl" tea house on the famous Hollywood Boulevard in the US metropolis this year. But he already had to remove some items from the menu because of the matcha shortage.

Customers flock to the Japanese-style tea bar with its bamboo shelves and hand-made pottery jugs. Matcha is served here with frothed milk or, in the traditional manner, simply mixed with hot water in a ceramic bowl. It is an expensive treat: a bowl of tea costs the equivalent of almost nine euros.

The matcha boom continues unabated. The valuable, increasingly expensive green powder is appealing not only because of its healthy image, but also because of its versatility, whether as a drink or in fine desserts. But only when supply and demand are balanced in the long term can matcha celebrate sustainable success.