Japan’s Matcha Market 2025 — How it affects the UK market

Japan’s matcha market is seeing major shifts this year, driven by limited harvests and rising raw material costs. Here’s a quick breakdown:

1️⃣ Premium Matcha (Tea Ceremony / Ultra-Authentic Grade)

• The hardest hit segment — top-grade tencha from Uji saw prices triple due to poor yields.

• Retail prices up 2-3x, with some high-grade matcha expected to rise by up to 75. Many brands are already facing stock shortages and purchase limits.

2️⃣ Everyday Drinking Matcha (Matcha Latte / Entry Tea Ceremony Grade)

• Moderate increase of 1.5-2x.

• Commonly used for lattes, but further price adjustments are expected in the coming months.

3️⃣ Culinary & Industrial Matcha (Baking / Beverages / Food Manufacturing)

• Prices up around 10–40%, and that’s the majority used.

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💡 What This Means for the Market

With ongoing shortages, wholesalers and retailers are likely to choose alternative grade/quality matcha while keeping prices stable — or raise prices without full transparency on grade changes.

This could lead to uncertainty in product quality and growing trust issues across the market. With the flavouring matcha drinks become popular in the market, it always being said that consumers wouldn’t be able to differentiate the flavour of matcha tea. 

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💡 What This Means for us BYG Matcha

At BYG, we’ve built a transparent, vertically integrated, and stable supply chain, sourcing directly from trusted farms where quality is the priority. With the climate advantages: the area is surrounded in mist all year round, with an average annual temperature of around 15°C. This not only prevents strong sunlight from scorching the tea leaves, but also allowing it to slowly accumulate nutrients, form its special grassy and earthly taste.