Matcha Labeling (Part 2): Mistruths in Matcha Labeling

How do you know if you can trust what’s on a label?

Some countries have strict labeling requirements about regional products. For example, you won’t find anything labeled as Champaign that doesn’t come from Champaign (except in Russia, the only country where Champaign is sold that doesn’t protect the name). Historically, Europeans adopted labeling rules and instituted quality standards to protect the reputation and “brand name” of a region. For some producers, especially lower-quality producers, this is a great thing—a rising tide lifts all boats. For other producers, especially higher-quality producers, it makes it more difficult to stand out and differentiate their products. These geographic and product-specific classification systems force all producers onto the same standard. It’s how we all get to enjoy Parmigiano Reggiano, Chianti Classico, and Jamón Ibérico de bellota.

As a consumer you know what you’re getting thanks to these well-regulated classification systems. There’s a quality floor below which no product can be sold with a specific name on the label.

Unfortunately the Japanese matcha industry, and other Japanese food and beverage industries, have very weak labeling standards and no major classification standards. For example, you’d think that tea labeled as Uji Matcha must be made from producers in Uji. Under current labeling rules a tea only needs to be finished in Uji for it to be labeled as Uji Matcha, but can actually be grown in other regions of Japan. Even worse, the Uji Matcha name is licensed to a subsidiary in Mainland China where tea grown and processed in China can be sold as Uji Matcha. The farms in Mainland China take Japanese cultivars (mostly Yabukita), shade grow the tea, and use identical processing equipment to what’s used in Japan. But the terrior and growing conditions are different than Uji.

The lack of regulation or well-defined standards have let capitalism and profit-seeking companies and merchants leverage as much value from a name as possible, potentially lowering the tide, sinking the reputation that Uji has built as the birthplace of modern matcha and centuries of masterful production.

For those wishing to learn the taste of different regions and different terriors, the cornerstone of any thriving specialty market where consumers develop well-defined preferences, the current market landscape makes it incredibly difficult. You cannot inherently trust what’s on the label. Rather, purchasing decisions need to be made by the reputation and trust of the vendor selling the tea.

In the future we hope to see more regulation in Japan to protect matcha growing regions and more transparency from vendors about what exactly it is that their sourcing. We also hope to see origins represented outside of Japan producing unique matcha grown in their distinctive terriors such as Korea, Taiwan, and Mainland China.

Part 3 of the matcha labeling series discusses matcha classifications and matcha quality. Please stay tuned

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