{"id":254540,"date":"2025-09-25T21:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T21:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/254540\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T21:30:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T21:30:26","slug":"matcha-mania-in-fort-worth-has-shops-whisking-up-solutions-to-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/254540\/","title":{"rendered":"Matcha mania in Fort Worth has shops whisking up solutions to shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Within a year, Ampersand<\/a> co-owner Toan Luong watched matcha become one of his cafes\u2019 most popular items.<\/p>\n

The CEO ordered more of the tea, then more than that, and then more again. Luong now orders three to four times more matcha than the 55-pound shipments he routinely purchased four months ago.<\/p>\n

Customer demand for matcha took him by surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve run out of matcha a few times,\u201d Luong said. \u201cWhenever we do run out, customers are always a little bit sad, but everyone understands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shop owners and employees across the city with knowledge of their shop\u2019s matcha orders say demand for the bright-green tea has surged as matcha producers overseas struggle to keep up. Its popularity has matcha spots buying and stocking more to whisk away worries.<\/p>\n

Retail sales for matcha in the United States nearly doubled from three years ago<\/a>, and global demand is rising with no sign of slowing down, according to multiple market research firms.<\/p>\n

But China and Japan\u2019s tea industries, two of the world\u2019s largest matcha producers<\/a>, face challenges, the Associated Press and The Japan Times<\/a> reported. Labor shortages in China limit matcha production despite having an abundance of crops. Poor weather reduced Japan\u2019s crop yield this year and a rapidly aging and strained workforce further limits that country\u2019s production.<\/p>\n

\"(JohnAn aluminum container used to decoratively store matcha powder sits on a counter at Ampersand near Texas Christian University on Sept. 12, 2025. (John Forbes | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

Depending on the season, matcha alone can earn nearly a quarter of Ampersand\u2019s daily revenue, Luong said.<\/p>\n

After Luong learned customers\u2019 preferences, he has kept a healthy matcha stock. The last time it ran out was around two months ago, he said.<\/p>\n

The Legal Cafe<\/a> in downtown Fort Worth also ran out of matcha when its supplier\u2019s stock ran dry about three months ago, cafe manager Athena Boneta said.<\/p>\n

Almost two weeks passed before the shop was able to buy a lower grade powder as a stopgap until switching back to its typical ceremonial-grade matcha, the highest grade of the tea and preferred type by global customers.<\/p>\n

The powdered tea earned nearly half of The Legal Cafe\u2019s revenue in August, Boneta said.<\/p>\n

\"(JohnA sign for Cherry Coffee hangs along Magnolia Avenue on Sept. 16, 2025. (John Forbes | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

Tara Hennessy, inventory and ordering lead at Cherry Coffee<\/a> on Magnolia Avenue, said she started to keep a surplus of matcha, just in case.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we\u2019re running into shortages, we don\u2019t want to have one bag (leftover before restocking),\u201d Hennessy said.<\/p>\n

Hennessy said the cost of buying a shipment of matcha rose nearly $50 per bag near the start of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tariffs levied against China<\/a> and Japan<\/a> raised the price of matcha even more.<\/p>\n

Boneta said the cost also increased for The Legal Cafe, and customers saw up to a 50-cent price increase for matcha drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the short supply, the tea\u2019s popularity is good business for local shops.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving matcha within our menu has been a great asset, and we hope it continues to grow,\u201d Luong said.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: The owner of Cherry Coffee, Katherine Morris, is the wife of Fort Worth Report board<\/a> member Jonathan Morris.<\/p>\n

News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Forbes is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at john.forbes@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n

Republish This Story<\/p>\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/p>\n

Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Within a year, Ampersand co-owner Toan Luong watched matcha become one of his cafes\u2019 most popular items. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":254541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,127920,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-254540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-matcha","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115267071144478401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}