meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Business Daily

Spilling the tea on matcha

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4796 Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Once difficult to find outside of Japan, the green tea has made it onto the menus of major coffee chains.

The matcha tea industry is projected to reach US$5bn in revenue by 2031.

We look at the role TikTok, celebrity and wellness endorsements have played, and ask whether the matcha we drink in the west is healthy.

Plus we hear from producers who say the industry needs regulation.

Presented and produced by Megan Lawton

(Image: Matcha tea in a cup. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, welcome to Business Daily on the BBC Wild Service.

0:05.6

Today, we're talking about...

0:08.0

Macha cookies, matcha roll cakes, matcha latte, machete, macheteas, machete.

0:12.0

Macha. Once solely associated with Japan,

0:15.1

matcha tea is now all over our high street menus and supermarket shelves.

0:20.0

It's inspired nail colours.

0:21.6

There are matcha Kit Katz, there's matcha skin care.

0:24.6

Gained the approval of nutritionists.

0:26.6

Macha is also packed with antioxidants.

0:30.6

And one over Hollywood in the process.

0:33.6

Jewelipa, Zendaya, you've got your Kyagirbas, your Gwynette Paltros.

0:39.5

It's also a sign of East Asian products booming overseas.

0:43.6

It used to be that Asian culture was sometimes stigmatized as being weird or marginal,

0:49.0

but now it's kind of like the hotspot for cool.

0:51.9

So much so, Matches value is predicted to rise to $2.9 billion by 2029.

0:58.6

We work with fine dining partners across the world.

1:02.0

We are in the midst of building a partnership with one of the top restaurants in Asia.

1:06.4

But how healthy is the matcher we drink outside of Japan?

1:10.0

I would say it really depends what you're adding to it.

1:13.2

And how do we know what we're buying is authentic?

1:15.8

The problem is a lot of brands are just basically saying,

1:17.7

oh, we can run ads on Facebook.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -107 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.