00:00A bitter, rich tea drink enjoyed all year round around the world,
00:06Japanese matcha has attracted some loyal fans and creative minds in the culinary world.
00:12The traditional stone-milled green tea has been integrated into a variety of lattes,
00:17sweets and baked goods. But now, it comes with a higher price tag. In the U.S.,
00:23which consumes about a third of all matcha every year, some customers are fueling the pinch.
00:29I have matcha every morning. It's actually my go-to drink. It's kind of how I start the day.
00:36What have I noticed about the pricing? It's definitely started to go up,
00:40especially if you want to maintain the quality.
00:42Serving matcha every day, cafes and tea shops in the U.S. say the price hike has come as a shock.
00:48So the price has skyrocketed. For us, it's more than doubled, and we weren't expecting that at all.
00:54Our matcha drinks, we sell them in the hundreds every day, and we go through many hundreds of kilograms
01:02every month or two. So it's a lot of matcha.
01:09While matcha green tea growers may be glad to see a boom in popularity,
01:14many are struggling to meet the global demand.
01:16In Japan, crops have dwindled due to recent heatwaves and aging farmers.
01:24It's a real delight for tea producers that Japan's matcha is drawing such attention.
01:29I'm glad the world is taking an interest in our matcha, but it's been overwhelming.
01:33In the short term, almost a threat. We just can't keep up.
01:36On top of that, the U.S. has placed a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods,
01:42adding to these businesses' concerns.
01:44It's this perfect storm or imperfect storm of tariffs,
01:48which are unrelated to the fact that we're having such a high demand
01:51and such an increase in prices already.
01:53So it's unfortunate timing, obviously.
01:55And, you know, we have to make some hard decisions of, you know,
01:58what pricing is going to look like.
02:01There's limits, obviously.
02:02We can't just, you know, continue to raise prices forever.
02:06As the supply of this delicate powdered green tea drops,
02:09and its price stays high,
02:10it raises the question of how much longer
02:14it will dominate people's drink orders.
02:16Patrick Chen and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.
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