Matcha Shortage & Price Surge in Japan 2025 – What's Really Happening?
Posted on July 08 2025,
What’s happening, what caused it, and what to expect next
If you’ve recently tried to buy matcha — especially high-grade ceremonial matcha — you may have noticed something unusual: rising prices, limited availability, and delayed shipments.
We’re based in Japan and work directly with tea farms, cooperatives, and manufacturers. Below is a clear, data-backed breakdown of what’s happening in the Japanese matcha industry and what it means for buyers worldwide.
Matcha supply is down — especially in Kyoto
Matcha is made from tencha, a shaded green tea leaf (you can see the full process in our guide to how matcha is made). In 2025, Kyoto Prefecture — home to traditional Uji matcha — saw steep production declines in key categories:
| Tea type | 2024 volume | 2025 volume | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uji Tencha (hand-picked) | 10,216 kg | 6,140 kg | –40% |
| First-harvest Tencha (machine-picked) | 529,960 kg | 434,521 kg | –18% |
These figures are consistent with broader industry reporting and the national trends summarized by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).
Prices rose sharply at auction
With reduced supply and sustained global demand, tencha auction prices rose substantially in 2025:
| Tea type | 2024 price/kg | 2025 price/kg | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uji Tencha | ¥20,024 | ¥43,330 | +116% |
| First-harvest Tencha | ¥5,402 | ¥14,541 | +169% |
These increases are highly unusual by historical standards and are already affecting availability and pricing across export markets.
What’s driving the shortage?
This isn’t a single-issue event — it’s a combination of demand growth, production constraints, and structural shifts:
1. Global matcha demand continues to expand
Matcha consumption has grown beyond tea ceremony and home preparation into cafés, food manufacturing, supplements, and cosmetics — placing sustained pressure on limited supply.
2. Climate and agricultural constraints
Industry and government reporting note increasing climate stress on tea cultivation, including unusually hot and dry spring conditions in recent years. These conditions can reduce yield and complicate quality production — especially in regions where traditional methods remain common.
3. Structural shifts in tea production
Nationally, more producers are converting fields from sencha to tencha. This supports long-term supply, but it does not instantly replace the loss of top-grade, carefully produced material (especially hand-picked or tightly specified lots).
4. Rising costs (labor, fuel, fertilizer, packaging)
Higher input costs have pushed up production costs across the board, with additional pressure on organic and hand-picked teas that require more labor and smaller-batch handling.
If you’re shopping for authentic Japanese matcha during this period, you can browse our retail selection of Uji matcha products.
What does national data show?
Nationally, tencha production has increased over the past decade, driven in part by rising international demand. However, MAFF also notes that growth is uneven — meaning the availability of the highest-grade material can tighten quickly when key regions face poor yields.
What to expect going forward
Prices may stay elevated short-term
Some stabilization may occur depending on upcoming harvest outcomes, but pricing is unlikely to return quickly to earlier lows while demand remains strong and production constraints persist.
Supply is becoming relationship-driven
A key reality in today’s market is that many farms and primary suppliers are prioritizing existing customers. In practical terms, that means new buyers often struggle to secure consistent high-grade stock — especially if they are switching suppliers mid-season or requesting unusually short timelines.
“Authentic matcha” is still available — with better planning
Matcha is not going away. But buyers may need to plan further ahead, be more flexible on specs, and work with suppliers who have stable, long-term access to production.
Premium Health Japan
What we’re doing about it
We’ve built long-term relationships with multiple farms and manufacturers well before the current matcha boom. That history matters. Because we’ve supported our partners consistently over time, we have more stable access to stock than newcomers typically can.
◆We lean on established supply relationships across multiple producers and processing partners.
◆We protect quality and consistency by planning lots and lead times carefully.
◆We vet inquiries and work best with partners who understand the industry strain and communicate politely and realistically.
If you’re a wholesale buyer or OEM partner, you can request access to our wholesale price list on our OEM & Wholesale page. (You’ll be prompted to register your email to view pricing.)
Tip: Your chances of receiving a positive supplier response improve when you demonstrate awareness of current market conditions, avoid unrealistic turnaround requests, and communicate with the politeness and clarity that are central to Japanese business culture.
Sources & how to verify these figures
The production and auction figures above come from Kyoto Prefecture tea statistics and Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Because MAFF periodically reorganizes its website and replaces statistical PDFs without leaving redirects, a direct link to any single file tends to break over time. Rather than rely on a link that may move, here is how to find the original sources yourself:
MAFF annual tea overview
Look for the report titled “お茶をめぐる情勢” (romanized Ocha o meguru jōsei, “Current Conditions Surrounding Tea”). The simplest way to reach the latest edition is to visit maff.go.jp and search for お茶をめぐる情勢, or search that phrase (or “MAFF tea statistics”) in your preferred search engine. It is published as a periodically updated PDF, so the file number changes with each revision.
MAFF tea section
On maff.go.jp, navigate to the tea (茶) pages under agricultural production and specialty crops (生産 → 特産農産物 → 茶) for current statistics, policy, and industry updates.
International reporting
Reuters, “Japan’s heat-stressed matcha tea output struggles to meet soaring global demand” (4 July 2025). Search that headline to read the full report — independent coverage of the climate impact and global demand pressures.
Questions about sourcing, OEM options, or availability?
Our bilingual team in Japan is happy to help.
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