Overview

• Influencer-driven interest has pushed global demand beyond available supply, prompting purchase limits in shops and higher prices for consumers.
• Official data show matcha accounted for more than half of Japan’s roughly 9,000 tonnes of exported green tea last year.
• Heatwaves and a steep decline in the number of tea farmers have cut yields and reduced Japan’s production capacity.
• Germany has become a major buyer, with January–August 2024 shipments of powdered tea surpassing 240 tonnes, up about 240% year on year.
• German grower Antje Kühnle is scaling Camellia sinensis cultivation in Brandenburg using climate-adaptive methods, aiming for about 6.5 hectares and a first marketable harvest in spring 2026.