A matcha crisis isn’t fun and games like Time Crisis. It’s hard and grueling like Dino Crisis.

Once the hidden gem of Japanese tea ceremonies and confectionery, the carefully ground green tea known as “matcha” has taken the world by storm with its vibrant green color, complex taste that seems to complement sweetness perfectly, and health benefits. But now, those in the industry are starting to wonder if the ingredient can handle getting this big.

▼ I’m just going to keep telling myself this is healthy because it has matcha in it.

In order to achieve the best color and flavor in matcha, the plants’ exposure to sunlight needs to be carefully regulated. This means the very best matcha you’re likely to find is grown on a small scale with a high degree of personal attention. Even with attempts to modernize and industrialize production, there are still limitations because certain processes like growing the plants and grinding the leaves need to be done very slowly in order to be done properly.

Since production can’t be sped up, it would have to be expanded in order to produce more, and seeing the potential for matcha exports, the government began subsidizing green tea production a couple years ago in the hopes of focusing Japan’s shrinking agricultural labor force on the coveted ingredient. Meanwhile, China stepped into the game too a while back and is currently the leading producer of matcha in the world. However, much of that is sold in their own gigantic domestic market and since they focus more on efficiency in production, it could be said that the quality is lower.

▼ These green tea plants in Saitama Prefecture are being grown in full sunlight, which means they cannot be used for matcha.

The recent trade chaos caused by U.S. President Donald Trump may give Japan a competitive edge against China as Japan is expected to get a more lenient deal in the very sizable American market. Unfortunately, that probably won’t make a difference, because even despite Japan’s efforts at more than doubling matcha production in the past 10 years, that still won’t be enough to meet the increasingly ravenous worldwide demand for the stuff.

According to a tea buyer in the U.K., sales of matcha-flavored drinks have tripled in the past year alone and have even surpassed that of the classic Earl Grey there. Some in other countries like the U.S. said they have completely given up coffee in favor of matcha. A vendor in Ireland remarked that Japan will probably need to increase its production by 10 times in the next five years in order to keep up.

Considering the fact that farmers of all kinds are literally a dying breed in Japan, a 10-fold increase seems unlikely unless a radical solution can be found. Many in the industry are saying we’re already in the midst of what they call a “matcha crisis” with it being hard to secure, and if both supply and demand continue on their current course we may end up in a full-blown matcha supply shock.

▼ A news report on the matcha crisis… I feel bad for those girls who probably had no idea they would appear on Japanese TV with “MATCHA CRISIS” underneath.

This could cause prices to spike hard and throw the future of matcha as we know it into turmoil. With the demand being what it is, it would seem likely that buyers in other countries would turn to more quickly produced and inferior matcha both from Japan and China, lowering the bar for a drink and ingredient once only made with an extremely high degree of craftsmanship.

Many online comments in Japan felt that rising prices would preemptively help protect the integrity of Japan’s more finely produced matcha and put it on the level of a high-class ingredient that it deserves.

“Japan has been selling it too cheaply. It should be marketed as a high-end product because it is.”
“This could just be a fad too, like bubble tea or tiramisu. Increasing production for now is fine, but you need to be prepared for after.”
“I don’t think matcha is a passing fad because it can be used in so many ways.”
“Why don’t they sell it for more?”
“This global demand probably doesn’t know what good matcha tastes like, so the market will be flooded with poor-quality stuff.”
“Raise prices and make more of it so we can get some money over here.”
“Alright, who told everyone that matcha is delicious?”
“Looks like taking matcha snacks as a present for my trip to Europe was the right choice.”
“I work at a store in a tourist-heavy area and everyone is buying matcha stuff.”
“The matcha used in the tea ceremony is very carefully made. I hope this wave of commercialism doesn’t affect that.”

Indeed, matcha might’ve done well to follow the sake model in which it is marketed as a luxury drink and tends to sell for a premium overseas due to the high degree of technique that often goes into making it. But in the end, it will probably splinter off into something like chocolate where you’ll have a more clear-cut range of co-existing options from the exquisitely crafted and highly expensive kinds to the stuff they use to mass produce KitKats.

Source: TV Asahi News, The Guardian, Kyodo, YouTube/ANNnewsCH
Photos ©SoraNews24
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