The popularity of matcha skyrocketing worldwide. Supplies of the finely-ground green tea powder are in short supply. Most of the world's matcha is in Japan. Record high temperatures there have harvests of the shade-grown tea leaves. Increased demand and lower crop yields have in prices an all-time high. Masahiro Yoshida, a sixth-generation farmer from Uji, Kyoto, the Reuters news agency about his decreased production. He said he was only able to 1.5 tons of tencha tea leaves this year, instead of his typical harvest of two tons. He : "Last year's summer was so scorching that it the bushes, so we couldn't as many leaves."
Matcha has in popularity, from being a niche product to a trendy flavouring for beverages, smoothies, desserts, and even skincare products. The Global Japanese Tea Association said Japan's tourism boom is the green tea shortage. It the website Sustainability Magazine: "Many foreigners lots of matcha...as souvenirs, sometimes even in bulk." It that added this appetite for matcha was "unprecedented," and was in part by social media. Yuki Ishii, founder of the store Tealife, said demand has ten-fold, and that he is always out of stock. "Matcha mania" has in a scarcity that is also Japan's traditional tea ceremonies.
