Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. So I'm here to
Speaker 1: order an iced shake and macha.
Speaker 2: I know you only serve ten of them, do you
Speaker 2: have any laugh? We have one left, so you're very
Speaker 2: lucky today. If you've been to an independent coffee shop
Speaker 2: pretty much anywhere recently, there's a good chance you've heard
Speaker 2: about the Macha shortagch. Macha tea powder has soared in
Speaker 2: popularity in recent years. Its distinctive bright green hue has
Speaker 2: started showing up in macho latees, macha pastries, even in
Speaker 2: Macha soft serve. But now the supply of authentic, high
Speaker 2: quality macha coming from Japanese farmers is struggling to meet
Speaker 2: global demand.
Speaker 3: We have just one Macha product right now, the ice
Speaker 3: shake and Macha, and we limit it to ten drinks
Speaker 3: a day. It is just to stretch out that supply.
Speaker 2: Thomas chen is the tea director of two nine in Waher, Washington,
Speaker 2: d C, a Japanese cafe and restaurant that opened a
Speaker 2: few weeks ago. Our senior producer, Naomi Shaven visited last week. Okay, wow,
Speaker 2: so you've almost completely sold out by two fifteen.
Speaker 3: That is wild.
Speaker 1: I would love to order it.
Speaker 2: It's the kind of place you might expect to offer
Speaker 2: Macha everything.
Speaker 3: Macha was supposed to be kind of the centerpiece of
Speaker 3: the Leka Japanese drinks program, and then we were going
Speaker 3: to incorporate it into the pastry program as well, And
Speaker 3: now it's become kind of a okay, like what we
Speaker 3: need to scale this whole plan back. And it's not
Speaker 3: just like the supplies, like even when they do have supply,
Speaker 3: the prices have already gone up. Tariffs have definitely affected
Speaker 3: that too.
Speaker 2: I'm Sarah Holder. Today on the show, my colleague Wanha,
Speaker 2: who hosts Big Take Asia, traces the Macha supply chain
Speaker 2: from cafe to wholesaler all the way back to the
Speaker 2: farmers on the ground in Japan. What's behind the shortfall
Speaker 2: and what would it take to meet the Macha demand.
Speaker 4: Jasmin Smith is a designer living in Japan. She and
Speaker 4: her sister Freya make videos about their everyday life in
Speaker 4: Tokyo in their spare time.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to dan life living in Tokyo.
Speaker 4: Today, and there's one thing they love about living in Japan.
Speaker 4: Japanese green tea, also known.
Speaker 1: As Macha Mancha just tastes amazing. We both used to
Speaker 1: be coffee drinkers actually, but at some point Mancha just
Speaker 1: took over as our go to caffeine source and it's
Speaker 1: been part of our morning routines ever since.
Speaker 4: They started posting videos on TikTok in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 4: sharing their favorite Macha cafes, daily morning routines and telling
Speaker 4: their thousands of TikTok followers where they can get the
Speaker 4: best macha powder online and in Tokyo. But a couple
Speaker 4: of months ago, they were surprised when they went to
Speaker 4: get their usual Macha fix at this tiny store in
Speaker 4: their neighborhood.
Speaker 1: It's just run by an elderly woman, and she told
Speaker 1: me that, yeah, she has nothing to sell to me unfortunately,
Speaker 1: and recently she told us that a lot of foreigners,
Speaker 1: a lot of young people are visiting her shop, so
Speaker 1: every time she restocks, she instantly sells out, which never
Speaker 1: used to happen.
Speaker 4: Bloomberg reporter Mia Glass, who's based in Tokyo, also noticed
Speaker 4: this happening at Macha stores around her.
Speaker 5: Mancha has just completely blown up overseas. People come to
Speaker 5: Japan and they know about macha from social media. They've
Speaker 5: studied it, and they really want that high quality type
Speaker 5: of macha when they come here, so there's a huge
Speaker 5: shortage of macha in Japan.
Speaker 4: Welcome to the Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm Wanha.
Speaker 4: Every week we take you inside some of the world's
Speaker 4: biggest and most powerful economies and the markets, tycoons and
Speaker 4: businesses that drive this ever shifting region. Today on the
Speaker 4: show the Macha Mania, what's driving this macha boom and
Speaker 4: why can't macha makers in Japan keep up? Mia, It's
Speaker 4: great to have you, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much for having me so.
Speaker 4: Because today's episode is all about macha. I've got a
Speaker 4: cup of cold macha with almond milk here with me
Speaker 4: in the studio in Hong Kong, Mia, What are you drinking?
Speaker 5: So? I got an iced macha latte, which is my
Speaker 5: go to order, and I got it from this macha
Speaker 5: cafe that's actually near our office building. It's by this
Speaker 5: amazing family run Japanese tea company that's been around for
Speaker 5: like three hundred years.
Speaker 4: Oh that's amazing. Now, shall we give these macha drinks
Speaker 4: a taste?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 5: Cheers.
Speaker 4: Hmm, this one is not quite bitter enough for me.
Speaker 4: I think it's been it has too much almond milk unfortunately,
Speaker 4: but I can still get the flavor of the macha,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 5: I just love how unique The taste is kind of
Speaker 5: like this mix of umami but also bitter, sometimes a
Speaker 5: little sweet. So it's just a flavor you can't really
Speaker 5: get from anything else.
Speaker 4: Mia. Tell us exactly what is macha?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so, macha is a Japanese word. It means powdered
Speaker 5: tea and Japanese so it's a type of green tea
Speaker 5: where the entire leaf is grounded into this powder.
Speaker 4: This way of making green tea originated from China in
Speaker 4: the twelfth century. A Japanese monk who was traveling there
Speaker 4: was so impressed with the energy boost the drink gave
Speaker 4: him that he brought it back with him to Japan.
Speaker 4: It's said that Japanese monks used to drink macha to
Speaker 4: stay awake during long meditation sessions, and today macha is
Speaker 4: at the center of Japanese tea ceremonies that are performed
Speaker 4: for cultural and religious purposes.
Speaker 5: Depending on the tea ceremony, there will be different types
Speaker 5: of macha, like a thinner macha or a thicker one.
Speaker 5: There's specific steps that they have to go through. It's
Speaker 5: carefully whisked into this frothy drink that you drink at
Speaker 5: the end. And it's a practice that emphasizes a lot
Speaker 5: of Japanese values like mindfulness, harmony, tranquility, respect, those kinds
Speaker 5: of things.
Speaker 4: And macha is this just for traditional ceremonies. You'll find
Speaker 4: it everywhere you go in Japan.
Speaker 5: In Tokyo, there's a macha cafe on like every block here.
Speaker 5: Everything is macha now, bubble tea, cakes, cookies, even in
Speaker 5: coffee shops here they usually have macha now, so you
Speaker 5: can pick between the two.
Speaker 4: Japan is one of the world's largest producers of macha.
Speaker 4: The country made about four thousand tons of the powdered
Speaker 4: tea in twenty twenty three. That's almost a threefold increase
Speaker 4: from two thousand and eight and an all time high,
Speaker 4: and in recent years it's becoming more popular overseas. Last year,
Speaker 4: Japan's export of green tea, which includes macha, reached a
Speaker 4: record high of about two hundred and forty five million
Speaker 4: US dollars. That's a roughly quarter increase from the previous year.
Speaker 4: But despite the record level of production, Japan has a
Speaker 4: macha shortage. Shops sell out of macha as soon as
Speaker 4: they hit the shelves, forcing people to go out of
Speaker 4: their way to find the tea powder, and some of
Speaker 4: the most prominent macha producers have also stopped selling certain
Speaker 4: products and limits the number of cans of macha customers
Speaker 4: can buy at a time. Mia says there's one clear
Speaker 4: driver for the increasing demand.
Speaker 5: People on TikTok and Instagram and other social media platforms
Speaker 5: have really made an esthetic out of macha. It has
Speaker 5: this bright green color that is really attractive for social media,
Speaker 5: and so people will show off that bright green macho
Speaker 5: lte or desserts, and people even have Macha stations complete
Speaker 5: with traditional mugs and whisks and strainers and things like that,
Speaker 5: and they will decorate it. So it's really this aesthetic
Speaker 5: that people have jumped on. And then of course there's
Speaker 5: a nutritional aspect as well.
Speaker 4: The craze for macha comes at a time when there's
Speaker 4: been a growing interest in health and wellness products. You'll
Speaker 4: hear social media influencers talk about the health benefits macha offers.
Speaker 4: It's rich in antioxidants and caffeine, which some studies suggest
Speaker 4: can help boost energy and lower risk of disease yes,
Speaker 4: and on top of these viral social media videos contributing
Speaker 4: to the shortage, Mia says there's just a lot of
Speaker 4: people traveling to Japan and buying macha in person.
Speaker 5: There are so many tourists in Japan right now, mainly
Speaker 5: thanks to the weekend, so basically everything is on sale
Speaker 5: once you get to Japan, and there's also just generally
Speaker 5: more interest in Japan. Last year, thirty seven million people
Speaker 5: visit the country, which is a record, and it's up
Speaker 5: forty seven percent from twenty twenty three. A lot of
Speaker 5: videos on TikTok and Instagram show a lot of people
Speaker 5: recording macha. I saw a few videos of people literally
Speaker 5: having a suitcase full of macha, you know, from different
Speaker 5: stores to try the different flavors and stuff like that.
Speaker 5: Because they're only in Japan for you know, a week
Speaker 5: or two. They're like, oh my god, I have to
Speaker 5: buy up all this macha while I'm here. So people
Speaker 5: definitely are buying a lot of macha, and that's definitely
Speaker 5: contributing to the shortage.
Speaker 4: While Japanese have been drinking less green tea over the years,
Speaker 4: out side of Japan, the appetite from macha is expanding.
Speaker 4: Cafes and tea stores as far as Sydney and Australia
Speaker 4: have seen sales skyrocket, forcing owners to limit customer purchases
Speaker 4: because they're unable to source more of the tea powder
Speaker 4: from Japan after the break, Why can't Japanese tea producers
Speaker 4: just make more macha? Growing fine quality macha has a
Speaker 4: lot to do with the land and the climate. The
Speaker 4: plant needs to be shaded, the soil needs to drain
Speaker 4: well but also retain a decent amount of water. And
Speaker 4: while macha is produced in a variety of regions in Japan,
Speaker 4: there's one particular place renowned for this highly prized tea.
Speaker 5: So the most famous region is Uji, which is on
Speaker 5: the southeast border of Kyoto, and that's where macha farmers
Speaker 5: have master techniques of growing and harvesting the best macha
Speaker 5: and they've been doing this for centuries.
Speaker 4: Mia. Can you walk us through the life cycle of macha?
Speaker 4: How is macha made?
Speaker 5: So it's a very long process. So basically in a farm,
Speaker 5: you have just rows and rows of tea plants. In April,
Speaker 5: the first shoots of the season are going to appear,
Speaker 5: and then the tea plants are gradually shaded over time,
Speaker 5: so that blocks the direct sunlight for the plants. That
Speaker 5: gives it that chlorophyll, that bright green color, and it
Speaker 5: also enhances the taste and also gives it antioxidants, which
Speaker 5: gives you that nutritional component.
Speaker 4: The highest grades of macha are usually grown in almost
Speaker 4: darkness before they're harvested around late April or May. The
Speaker 4: green tea leaves are handpicked and hours after they're harvested,
Speaker 4: they have to be steamed for less than a minute.
Speaker 4: That stops the oxidation process and keeps the leaves green.
Speaker 4: Then the leaves are left to dry, they're decedemped and debate.
Speaker 5: At this point they are called tensa. So this tensha
Speaker 5: will be blended together basically to make different flavor profiles.
Speaker 5: So that's also a part of the farmer's experience and knowledge.
Speaker 5: They know how to blend the macha to make certain flavors,
Speaker 5: and then after it's been stored in a refrigerator, it's
Speaker 5: going to get grinded to turn into the maucha powder
Speaker 5: that we know in stores.
Speaker 4: So that does sound like a long and arduous process,
Speaker 4: but certainly not impossible, right, Why can't supply just keep
Speaker 4: up with the demand.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so the whole process that I just described, it
Speaker 5: only happens once a year for the most premium types
Speaker 5: of macha, so farmers can't harvest more on demand. The
Speaker 5: annual supply is usually determined well in advance, and it's
Speaker 5: obviously a really slow precise process as well. So the
Speaker 5: traditional stone mills only grind about forty grams of macha
Speaker 5: per hour, and specialized macha processing machines are super limited
Speaker 5: in number, so increasing production speed would definitely come reminds
Speaker 5: the quality of the macha. And also a lot of
Speaker 5: these types of produce are pretty much made by family
Speaker 5: run businesses in Japan, and obviously Japan has a declining population.
Speaker 5: It's ajang and there's not enough people to take over
Speaker 5: those farms in the future, so there's really just a
Speaker 5: decline and supply for that reason as well.
Speaker 4: Another reason for the macha crunch is that Japanese tea
Speaker 4: producers tend to prioritize long standing customers. Marukio Koyaman, one
Speaker 4: of the leading brands of macha and Japan, says it
Speaker 4: needs to be strict sales to make sure there's enough
Speaker 4: supply for customers at temples, shrines, and other venues that
Speaker 4: use macha for religious or ceremonial purposes. Mia, is there
Speaker 4: any protective policy in place here? Why can't Japan just import,
Speaker 4: for example, fresh tea from overseas and process it at home.
Speaker 5: There's definitely some national or cultural pride ut play here.
Speaker 5: It's not like Japan has any rule about importing from
Speaker 5: other countries or regulations, but it's really more just about
Speaker 5: what people want. I think a lot of people in
Speaker 5: Japan really just love Japanese macha and they really trust
Speaker 5: the quality that these Japanese farmers bring because they've just
Speaker 5: been doing it for centuries. So I think a lot
Speaker 5: of Japanese people, although they'd be fine with drinking macha
Speaker 5: that's imported from other countries, they probably want to have
Speaker 5: that Japanese macha.
Speaker 4: Mia says. Farmers in other countries like the US, South Korea,
Speaker 4: and China are trying to make more of their own macha,
Speaker 4: but it's hard to replicate the kind of macha you
Speaker 4: get in Japan, and that's because of a combination of
Speaker 4: climate and soil so specific to the country, not to
Speaker 4: mention the centuries Japan is spent on perfecting the growing
Speaker 4: and processing techniques. Mia, is there anything that the Japanese
Speaker 4: government can do to help the macha supply catch up.
Speaker 5: The government is basically promoting more farmers to make tensha
Speaker 5: rather than other types of teas right now, because that
Speaker 5: can be turned into macha, and they're also supporting the
Speaker 5: tea industry as a whole through various subsidies and programs
Speaker 5: to encourage tea growing and also just promoting research in general.
Speaker 5: Because the problems like the asing population and also climate
Speaker 5: change heavily affects the production of macha. They're really trying
Speaker 5: to research what's the best method to continue to make
Speaker 5: more macha.
Speaker 4: Those government measures will take some time to bear fruit,
Speaker 4: if they ever do. Meanwhile, Mia says, for macha lovers
Speaker 4: living in Japan now, the difficulty in getting this unique
Speaker 4: green tea powder is just another inconvenient side effect of
Speaker 4: Japan's tourism boom.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's definitely one of the ways that the tourism
Speaker 5: issue is manifesting in Japan. I know there are a
Speaker 5: lot of locals who are really angry that there are
Speaker 5: so many tourists in the streets and in shops. I
Speaker 5: also hear complaints about people don't want Airbnbs in their
Speaker 5: neighborhood because of the garbage and the noise and things
Speaker 5: like that. And then I know in Kyoto, for example,
Speaker 5: the buses have been so crowded that a lot of
Speaker 5: the locals who are going to work have to wait
Speaker 5: for like three buses to pass because there are so
Speaker 5: many tourists, especially with like suitcases. So I think there
Speaker 5: are a lot of locals who are a bit upset
Speaker 5: about the over tourism right now.
Speaker 4: Despite some of these public complaints, the Japanese government says
Speaker 4: it wants to attract more tourists. Its goal is to
Speaker 4: welcome sixty million foreign visitors a year by twenty thirty.
Speaker 4: That's a jump of more than sixty percent from last
Speaker 4: year's record, and that Mia says might add more pressure
Speaker 4: on macha's supply.
Speaker 5: Your macha lattes will probably become more expensive if the
Speaker 5: shortage continues. And I know a lot of new macha
Speaker 5: businesses and cafes, not just in Japan but all over
Speaker 5: the world are having a really hard time finding tea
Speaker 5: producers with enough to sell. So I've heard that wholesalers
Speaker 5: in Japan just have to turn down new clients because
Speaker 5: a lot of macha for the next harvest is already reserved,
Speaker 5: So that's going to cafes and Japan that are trying
Speaker 5: to start out, and cafes abroad. I know a lot
Speaker 5: of cafes and foreign countries are starting to jump on
Speaker 5: this matcha tron, but it's almost too late because there's
Speaker 5: just no supply.
Speaker 4: Miah, I think we should drink our drinks, our macha
Speaker 4: drinks while we can still afford them. Of course, enjoy, cheers, cheers.
Speaker 4: This is the Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm
Speaker 4: wan Ha. This episode was produced by Naomi mum Young
Speaker 4: Young and Jessica Beck. It was edited by Grace Jennings
Speaker 4: ed Quist, Patty Hirsch, and Isabella Stegger. It was fact
Speaker 4: checked by Adrianna Tapia and mix and sound design by
Speaker 4: Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Uguira. Our senior producer is Naomi Shaven.
Speaker 4: Our senior editor is Elizabeth Ponso. Our executive producer is
Speaker 4: Nicole Beemster Bower. Sage Bauman is Bloomberg's head of Podcasts.
Speaker 4: If you like this episode, make sure to subscribe and review.
Speaker 4: They take Asia wherever you listen to podcasts. It really
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Speaker 4: next time.