With its characteristic umami, strong aroma, and vibrant green color, matcha has captured palates worldwide from its ceremonial, chasen-whisked origins to its modern use in multiple sweet treats.
Yet, a year ago, who would have expected the dawn of social media and “Matchatok” to catapult this green-tea based powder to superstardom? The surge nearly caught the unprepared Japanese industry blindsided, as average prices of the first season’s tea auctions rose to 60 percent compared to 2025.
As other Asian flavors begin to brew up similar levels of interest in global palates, understanding how matcha whisks through the challenges of fame may be the framework local flavors like pandan and ube can utilize to remain stable amid peaking demand.
A “green” tea, by all means
Matcha is concocted from the common tea plant (Camellia sinensis), the same source as every other tea known to humanity: black, green, white, yellow, and even oolong. Unlike normal tea harvesting practices, which involve picking young leaves from the plant, the process of creating matcha is rooted in a rich history.
In the late 16th century, Japanese tea planters grew the plants under shade for four weeks, before harvesting their youngest and most tender leaves. According to Anna Poian, co-founder of the Global Japanese Tea Association, this particular method results in an increased concentration of L-theanine and amino acids, giving matcha its characteristic umami.
Matcha, a combination of two Japanese characters meaning “powder” and “tea,” is produced from tencha, the steamed and dried form of the leaves. After removing the stem and veins, the blades of tencha leaves are ground into a fine powder, displaying the form we are familiar with today.
While matcha has generally been categorized into ceremonial and culinary grades, Japan-based natural product chemistry professor Hari Devkota clarifies that this classification has no scientific basis. “They usually believe that… the umami in ceremonial matcha is higher than that in the culinary matcha. But this is not a very [science-based] classification… it’s more like a vernacular classification,” he explains.
Nevertheless, Devkota expounds that matcha provides greater nutritional value than regular tea does. Both he and Poian illustrate that in regular loose-leaf tea, a mere extraction of the tea leaves by hot water is consumed. However, since matcha is a pulverized version of the entire tea leaf—not just an extract—compounds in the leaf remain at their original quantities. “So probably, the intake of polyphenols, caffeine, theanine as a whole, [and even] other constituents in matcha is even higher when you take it as a powder,” Devkota infers.
Grounds for drought
As more individuals dive head first into the matcha scene, it is no surprise that the tea’s international demand now surpasses that of global reserves. According to the Global Japanese Tea Association’s April 2026 report, Kyoto Uji Tea Distribution Center’s transaction volumes are projected to double to JPY10.4 billion because of tencha, the raw material for matcha, which accounts for at least 90 percent of the center’s trade. However, the world’s appetite for matcha isn’t the only reason for the product’s scarcity.
Apart from its popularity worldwide, climate change contributes considerably to this shortage. The Kyoto region, a major source of tencha, has been said to have its yield reduced by 20 to 25 percent due to the staggering records of heatwaves in the area. High temperatures disrupt agricultural yields, reducing both the quantity and quality of crops. To make matters worse, the frequent irregular rainfall and unexpected frost—aggravated by climate change—damage tea leaves and disrupt harvest time.
Although there is no direct correlation between this and the recent boom in the matcha industry, Poian explains that matcha’s expanded range of uses and growing demand have led farmers to harvest multiple times per year and adopt shading practices. Since the tea can generally be harvested only four times a year, Devkota suggests that keeping pace with the demand requires either growing the plant to make matcha or increasing production by cultivating it in new areas.
Encouragingly, several areas in Japan are now exploring tencha cultivation, with major tea regions like Kagoshima and Shizuoka leading the shift. Shizuoka Prefecture, in particular, aims to raise its export tea value and boost matcha production to catch up to global demand. However, the prefecture faces a shrinking production base, with tea plantation areas declining due to an aging workforce. On the other hand, residents in Hannan City have started using shading techniques when cultivating tencha.
Amid the steady decline of Japan’s tea industry, budding efforts from those mentioned signal an industry keen on revitalization. Yet despite these endeavors, catching up may prove highly unlikely as skyrocketing global demand far exceeds the industry’s current production capacity.
A cautionary tale
As the world gradually turns its attention to other vibrant Asian flavors such as pandan and ube—quintessential staples of Filipino cuisine—these industries can learn a thing or two from matcha’s growing pains, and hence prepare for similar challenges.
These sectors, for instance, should scale in a more ecologically responsible manner. Like matcha, they may find that scaling production requires substantial fertilizer and water inputs. Poian underscores that “these practices may not be sustainable for the plants or the soil in the long term.”
Production must also equally prioritize farmers’ welfare. Adequate government support must be provided so that farmers in these budding industries are not exploited, especially in the presence of middlemen who perpetuate an exploitative value chain wherein high profits do not reach farmers. This is further compounded by farmers’ earnings declining due to insufficient processing capacity, which prevents them from creating value-added products from their raw materials.
Remarkably, though, seeds of sustainable practices have been sown in places like Bohol, where initiatives such as AtoANI’s Bohol Ube Project have integrated community collaboration with regenerative, data-driven agriculture to ensure quality products that meet international demand and standards. Initiatives such as these show how industries can avoid challenges faced by matcha by building systems focused on long-term agricultural resilience.
It is undoubtedly great that Asian flavors are gaining global recognition, but this should not come at the expense of the land and its farmers. Industries must prioritize fair treatment for farmers and sustainable practices, ensuring that the benefits of this recognition are shared by all. After all, true success is not how quickly a flavor becomes a trend, but whether the people and landscapes behind it can endure long after the craze has faded.
