Matcha is a finely milled or powdered type of green tea. The past two years have seen an explosion in its popularity like never before. While consumers on this side of the Pacific sip enthusiastically on this lively emerald infusion, Japanese farmers are left struggling to keep pace with the growing global appetite. With this rising interest comes a troubling trend: the proliferation of counterfeit Matcha products, particularly from outside Japan. This horrible situation has led Japan’s agriculture department to act in protecting this beautiful and rare national treasure.
Matcha, which is produced from dried and de-veined green tea leaves that have been finely ground, comes straight from Japan. Though China has a long history of producing green tea, the authenticity of Matcha is still rooted in Japan. Sadly, lax regulations on Matcha labeling have opened doors for shady producers. They are poised to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market. Japanese producers fear that poor quality tea leaves mislabelled as Japanese Matcha would hurt the reputation of authentic Matcha.
The Struggle to Meet Demand
The immense demand for Matcha has already made history, causing some never-before-seen challenges for Japanese farmers. Green tea plants take around five years to mature. This long cycle of capital-intensive growth means it is difficult to rapidly increase production in order to catch up with increasing worldwide demand.
The first major Matcha deficit struck in the 1990s. Not long after, Haagen-Dazs introduced its green tea flavor to Japan. Yet this shortage has been a testimony to the narrow balance between supply and demand that farmers must walk.
“Desperately regrettable that we cannot deliver enough to satisfy the need of the people all over the planet,” laments Mr. Yamamoto, spokesperson for one of Matcha’s most celebrated Matcha matchmakers.
The Counterfeit Crisis
Now that Matcha’s popularity has been increasingly rising, so has the amount of bogus products flooding the market. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture has acknowledged this troubling trend, stating that counterfeits have increased alongside Matcha’s global fame.
Matsatsugu Nonomura, international sales manager for Isuzu Matcha, speaks to the seriousness of this matter. “The prospect of such counterfeits spreading not just in China but worldwide would be extremely damaging to the market,” he stated.
Nonomura pointed to a more troubling trend. Consumers will be disappointed if the Uji Matcha they purchase does not meet their standards of authenticity. After all, if consumers buy a product expecting Uji matcha and it doesn’t impress them, they might not bother buying it again. Yet this risk can damage sales permanently,” he continued.
Protecting Authenticity
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture is introducing new measures to proactively fight the counterfeit problem. The agency has been on the front lines advocating for the registration of trademarks abroad. It does feel like it has made important progress in pushing China to be tougher on deceptive products.
Yet, the unregulated nature of Matcha labeling is a huge hurdle for these initiatives. Mr. Nonomura encourages Chinese producers to develop their own brand identities instead of passing off lower quality goods as Japanese Matcha. “China has to compete with its own brand names if it has quality products,” he said.
Even through all of these struggles, Japanese producers are determined to continue providing the highest quality of Matcha. Nonomura spoke passionately about the quality of Isuzu Matcha, its lovely color and strong aroma. The colour and aroma of our matcha, Isuzu, are breathtaking,” he said. In contrast, he criticized counterfeit products: “The counterfeit Chinese matcha has poor colour and aroma.”
To prevent supply from being hoarded given the increased demand, Marukyu Koyamaen has instituted per person limits on sales. This important move is indicative of an increasing awareness among producers to make the supply based on what consumers want.
