Matcha mania sparks a global shortage | The Business | ABC NEWS

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From traditional Japanese origin, matcha has become a global sensation, thanks in part to social media. Influencers tout it as a cleaner, calmer caffeine hit that comes with a dose of antioxidants, but the matcha craze has pushed supply chains to the brink, and the lovers of this trendy drink could soon be paying more.
A tourism boom in Japan is helping fuel demand. In 2024, more than 36 million people visited Japan-- up around 15 per cent from the year before-- and that included a record number of Australians at 920,000.
Anna Poian from the Global Japanese Tea Association says the soaring demand for matcha has sparked the first ever shortage in the long history of the traditional Japanese tea.
While she says she believes tea farmers are in general happy with the love for matcha, many cannot meet the demand.
The owner of Matcha wholesaler, Simply Native, owner Yukino Matsumoto says she's been experiencing severe delays from suppliers since the start of the year.
At the first auction in Kyoto this year, the average price of tencha, the tea leaves used to make matcha, was almost double compared to 2024, selling at more than 8,000 Japanese Yen a kilogram or about $AUD87, which is a record.
Another big matcha producer Marukyu Koyamaen just announced price hikes of 50 to 60 per cent.
Daniel Tan, a Professor in Agronomy from the University of Sydney says scaling up isn't easy, and won't solve the shortage quickly. Matcha takes around 5 years to mature in the field, it needs to be grown in a nursery, because it's a specialized crop, it needs shading which increases the chlorophyll content, making the plant more vivid green, and it also increases the amino acids content, which gives it the umami flavor.
Professor Tan says weather events have also hit harvests, reducing production by 30 per cent.
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