Demand Surge

To begin with, there has been a significant increase in the demand for matcha over the past few years due to the rising trend that is growing its market around the world. With the combination of social media, the appearance of the matcha powder, and the awareness of being healthy among the younger generations, matcha has been getting popular all over the world, with major coffee chains such as Starbucks introducing matcha-flavored drinks. This has made it easier for customers to get matcha much more easily, and this has created problems for the
Senke families. There are mainly two reasons why this happens.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Finance, more than 10,000 tons of tea-related items were exported abroad in 2025. They have also reported that in the past 10 years, the export for Matcha has increased over 3 times, with most of the demand coming from the United States of America (US), around 40% of the total exports.

Cause

The main reason for this trend is the rise in health awareness among Gen Z. Matcha is relatively much easier to prepare and drink compared to other healthy foods you could make on your own. For example, many dark leaves such as spinach and kale are healthy foods, but it takes much more time to prepare them to eat. In contrast, it takes much less time and effort to create matcha as they only need to boil water and pour it into a cup with the matcha powder in the cup. With such a simple and timeless step, younger generations have a higher tendency to consume matcha.

Another reason for the growing trend is that many matcha products are “instagrammable,” used around younger generations, meaning that something is visually appealing enough to share on social media. According to Matcha Times, there are around 2 billion posts on TikTok alone that have #matcha, showcasing many visually appealing photos and content. Color and aesthetics

Both of these factors create a synergistic effect that helps increase the demand for matcha. However, there are conflicts within the Japanese tea community that arise due to new demand abroad.

Excess demand abroad has driven matcha prices up drastically, which is damaging traditional ceremonial groups. According to the BBC news, “Even with a purchase limit, most of the stores in Uji, the matcha capital of the world, are sold out.” In Japan, there are three main types of tea ceremonial groups called the Omote, Ura, and Mushanokoji, each having a different method of making tea. Mushanokoji practitioners host 10s and 100s of events each year, sometimes in consecutive days, and consume up to 8000 grams or 8 kilograms of matcha. According to a BBC report, Tomomi Hisaki, a general manager of Tsujirihei, quotes “tea ceremony instructors, temples, and shrines could have difficulty securing supply”.

Many people might say that companies should mass-produce matcha to meet that demand. However, it is nearly impossible to bump up production to meet the demand due to the way matchas are produced. According to research by the BBC, mills used to produce matcha can produce only around 400g over an 8-hour period, which is equivalent to 13 cans. Many shops usually stock around 30 to 40 cans of matcha powder per day since it is difficult to produce much more. On a particular day, BBC reporters visited Uji, Kyoto, and they concluded that the demand for fine matcha was extremely high. Shops around Uji open at around 10 am. One report by the BBC states, “It's gone. All the matcha's gone. My guess is that it's not past 10:05." From this statement, there is certainly a tremendous amount of demand that tries to reach out for a limited supply of goods, creating a massive shortage.

Sometimes, it may be a positive thing to have a great demand; however, too much demand can cause not only conflict but also disrupt the traditional network. Preserving and respecting the traditional system is crucial for matcha to stay in production, and we as consumers could decrease the consumption for many uses and try to save the community without emptying the rack in less than five minutes.