Overview

• Ippodo and Marukyu Koyamaen have instituted purchase and variety limits to ration dwindling matcha stocks.
• This year’s record heatwaves have cut matcha leaf yields by an estimated 20 percent compared with last harvest.
• The agriculture ministry has begun leasing machinery and offering crop-switch subsidies to draw new tea farmers into production.
• Matcha cultivation has fallen from 48,000 to 36,000 hectares since 2008, and tea-farming households have more than halved to around 20,000.
• Some suppliers are tapping matcha from China and South Korea as temporary sources despite lower quality standards.