Green and grassy is the perfect way to describe one popular drink at the moment: matcha. Matcha has swiftly attracted millions of consumers since 2020 because of its virality on social media.
However, its increase in popularity within the past few years has left matcha lovers scrambling to get their hands on it.
Originating in China, but later popularized in Japan, matcha became a new and natural way of getting caffeine. It is a form of green tea, made from camellia sinensis leaves and milled into a fine powder.
Matcha is made by growing a tea plant, which takes five years to mature. Later, the leaves of the plant are stored in the shade for 3-4 weeks and harvested. Then, the leaves are dried out until they are finally milled to become matcha powder.
Many consume the drink because of the health benefits it provides, such as improved concentration and lower blood pressure, according to Harvard Medical School.
Aside from these health benefits, much of the attraction to matcha comes from its vibrant green color. Different from other forms of caffeinated beverages, matcha looks aesthetically pleasing, especially in the form of a latte.
Matcha lattes were introduced on the Internet back in 2015. However, it was not until 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that matcha lattes became a craze.
Because people had the time to focus on their health and scroll on social media, the benefits and aesthetics that matcha had to offer quickly caught people's attention. According to NSS Magazine, “from 2020 to today, searches for matcha have increased by 520%.”
As more people began to discover matcha, the drink soon became a trend. People began posting tutorials on how to make matcha lattes at home. Others opened matcha businesses online and in-store.
After a few years, this wave of enthusiasm for matcha started to take a toll on Japanese tea manufacturers. The fad caused by social media created a matcha shortage in Japan, making it incredibly difficult to get matcha powder and ultimately increasing its price.
“Japan produced 4,176 tons of matcha in 2023 — almost a threefold increase from 1,471 tons in 2010,” Kat Kerr, a writer for The Japanese Times, wrote.
This increase in production caused Japanese manufacturers to run out of camellia sinensis leaves to mill and sell out of product.
Considering the process of growing camellia sinensis leaves takes at least five years, it soon became apparent to Japanese tea companies that they were going to run out of matcha because of how trendy it has become.
On Aug. 1, the well-known tea company, Ippodo Tea, released a statement acknowledging the matcha shortage. In the statement, Ippodo President Masakazu Watanabe explained the lengthy process of creating matcha.
“In light of this situation, we regretfully have no other choice but to raise prices on all our products across the board,” Watanabe said.
Watanabe also made note of resellers contributing to the shortage. Ippodo had no other option but to set a limit on the amount of matcha people could buy because of resellers contributing to the problem.
The matcha shortage has sent several companies, small businesses and consumers into a frenzy. Though Japanese tea companies are attempting to fix this shortage by halting production of other teas to focus on producing more matcha, it is going to take a long time before matcha is in stock and affordable again.
While the trendy beverage is aesthetic and tasty, several consumers are from North America and Europe, not Japan. According to The Japanese Times, Japanese consumers do not consume as much matcha as the rest of the world.
While matcha lattes are delicious, it is important for consumers to remember the impact they are having on Japanese culture and the tea industry. The time-consuming and labor-intensive process can be unethical at times because there is also a farmer shortage in Japan currently.
Several Japanese farmers who are familiar with the matcha-making process are beginning to age. Additionally, they are struggling to find younger generations willing to take over.
This surge in matcha consumption is demanding more from these older farmers. This has led to them being unable to keep up with the consumer demand and ultimately abandoning their tea farms.
With social media perpetuating the problem, the matcha industry will likely continue to struggle. To mitigate the shortage, it is best if consumers stay mindful of their matcha consumption.
