Order a matcha latte at a KL cafe this month and there is a real chance the barista tells you they are out, or that the price has quietly gone up since your last visit. This is not one outlet having a bad supply week. It is a global shortage that started on Japanese tea farms and has worked its way into Malaysian cafe menus.
Malaysian chains have already felt it directly. ZUS Coffee told customers on Instagram that its supply of ceremonial-grade matcha for the Meowtcha series was running low, warning that availability could dip further across outlets even as it works to restock. Niko Neko Matcha went further, capping retail purchases to one matcha powder pack per customer, whether shopping in-store or online, citing an unexpected surge in demand.
Why the shortage is happening
The root problem sits with tencha, the shade-grown tea leaf used to make ceremonial-grade matcha. Only a limited number of Japanese farms grow it well, and a tea bush takes around five years to reach full production — a planting cycle that cannot keep pace with demand that has grown roughly eightfold in five years, driven by TikTok trends, a wellness-drink boom and a surge in tourism to Japan.
Climate change has made it worse. Harvests in historic tea regions like Kyoto and Uji have dropped by as much as 40% in recent years, tightening supply right as global demand spiked. The Global Japanese Tea Association describes it as the first matcha shortage in recorded history, dating back to autumn 2024 and still working through the supply chain in 2026.
What it means for your wallet
Buyers are generally seeing matcha land somewhere between 40% and 60% above pre-shortage prices, and cafes running matcha drinks at a healthy margin two years ago are now absorbing thinner margins or passing the cost on. Some cafes are reformulating with culinary-grade powder instead of ceremonial-grade. Others are quietly dropping matcha from the menu. Lead times on new matcha orders now commonly stretch four to six weeks, longer during the spring harvest season.
Pricing is unlikely to snap back once the shortage eases. Once Japanese tencha prices are raised, they tend to stay there — the shortage has reset the floor rather than caused a temporary spike, according to industry sourcing reports tracking the 2026 market.
Malaysia sits at a particular disadvantage here. Almost all ceremonial-grade matcha sold locally is imported directly from Japan, so Malaysian cafes are competing for the same shrinking pool of tencha as buyers in the US, Europe and the rest of Asia, with no domestic supply to fall back on. That puts smaller independent cafes in a tighter spot than large chains, which can lean on bulk contracts and longer-standing supplier relationships to smooth out the worst of the shortage.
The local drinks that dodged it completely
Here's the part most matcha explainers skip: Malaysia never needed matcha to have a good iced drink scene. Teh tarik, kopi and sugarcane juice run on entirely different, entirely local supply chains, and none of them have seen anything like this squeeze. A pasar malam stall selling fresh sugarcane juice for a few ringgit has no exposure to a Kyoto harvest shortfall. Neither does a mamak's teh ais or ais kosong, both of which now come with QR payment as standard at most outlets.
If your usual matcha spot is out of stock or has bumped up the price, it might be the right week to remember the drinks that were never on TikTok's radar to begin with. You'll find plenty of them at any pasar malam within walking distance of an MRT station — no shortage, no rationing, no price hike to explain.
FAQ
Is the matcha shortage affecting all Malaysian cafes?
Not uniformly. Larger chains that rely on Japanese ceremonial-grade matcha, like ZUS Coffee, have publicly acknowledged supply strain. Smaller independent cafes vary — some have switched to culinary-grade powder or alternate suppliers, which softens the impact but can change the taste and colour of the drink.
Will matcha prices go back down?
Industry sourcing reports tracking the 2026 market say this is unlikely. Once Japanese tencha prices rise, they tend to hold at the new level rather than fall back, since the shortage reflects a structural supply gap rather than a short-term spike.
What's actually causing the shortage?
A combination of a multi-year global demand surge for matcha, driven partly by social media trends, and shrinking harvests in Japan's key tea-growing regions due to climate stress. Tencha, the specific leaf used for ceremonial matcha, takes years to cultivate and cannot be scaled up quickly.
Are there good matcha alternatives if my cafe is out?
Culinary-grade matcha (rather than ceremonial-grade) is more available and cheaper, though the flavour is more bitter and the colour less vivid. Locally, houjicha (roasted green tea) and Malaysia's own teh tarik or kopi are unaffected by the shortage entirely.
Is this the same as a coffee bean shortage?
No — the two are unrelated. Coffee supply has its own separate pressures. The matcha shortage is specific to shade-grown Japanese tencha and the ceremonial-grade matcha made from it.
