NEW BUSINESSES FINDING THIER WAY
Against the odds, new entrants have tapped into gaps in Singapore’s market of matcha drinkers, hoping to establish themselves in the scene.
Among them are co-founders Tiara Hudyana and Wee Shu-Hui, who launched Matcha Masta in October after Ms Hudyana, a nutritionist, observed that many clients who drank coffee experienced some adverse health effects. Many were also lacking protein in their diet.
As a result, the duo formulated a blend that combined matcha with plant-based protein.
“Protein-infused matcha seemed like the perfect solution for people who need their steady dose of caffeine while supplementing protein in their diet,” Ms Hudyana told CNA over email.
Matcha Masta’s founders said they mitigated their supply risk by sourcing from multiple ceremonial-grade tea farms from Uji, Kyoto.
Another retailer, Mori Matcha, launched in December last year, selling matcha powder, houjicha powder and matcha-making tools online.
Co-founder Maverick Chua said the brand was born from a personal struggle to find “a reasonably-priced, good matcha powder” for consumption.
“From our travels to Japan we know that quality matcha powder does not necessarily have to break a hole in your wallet and we wanted to bridge the gap between quality and affordability in Singapore,” Mr Chua said.
Mr Chua said Mori Matcha has still been able to obtain supplies, possibly because it required a smaller volume than other brands. His suppliers have seen higher demand for exports, but it was unlikely their stock would “disappear overnight”, said Mr Chua.
It’s another story for Matsu Matcha’s Mr Ong, who posted an update in end-November informing customers that his stock of matcha powder may dry up in one to two months – earlier than he anticipated.
His three main types of powder are from tea leaves harvested only once a year and stone-milled at a mere 40g per hour.
The demand for high-quality leaves makes it harder to secure stocks, Mr Ong said, adding that he will explore matcha from other sources and ranges.
Mr Ong has since managed to find new sources of matcha from different farms in Japan to ramp up his supply.
“It took me about two to three weeks of relentless communication, reaching out (to farmers) and negotiations,” said Mr Ong.
Mr Ong is due to fly to Kyoto at the end of this month to visit a few other tea farms and secure more stock.
Despite the setback, he remains optimistic about the future of the industry, and is persisting towards his eventual goal of holding workshops and starting a home-based cafe. Mr Ong is also gunning towards launching two types of matcha powder for matcha lattes in February.
“I believe that in the next few years, while matcha consumption will be a lot more than currently, the combined effort of the farmers, expansion to more plots of farms, matcha factories increasing their capacity through more manpower and education of matcha brands, will help make matcha business a sustainable and flourishing one,” he said.
