When I began my matcha mission years ago, I was I placing orders online from teamakers all over Japan, seeking to understand flavor and quality variances. But through all my online shopping, something jumped out — I could never find organic matcha. There was plenty of ceremonial matcha, but zero organic. Everyone told me organic, high-quality matcha doesn’t exist — that I had to buy non-organic, and I just didn’t understand why.

 

 

 

I made it my personal mission to source organic matcha and launched with our Emerald and Jade grade matchas that you know and love. With two years of Matchaful under my belt, I wanted to take things a step further — to offer full transparency into our supply chain.

 

But there’s something even more special about the matcha Kuni showed me. 

 

 

 

For the last month of matcha growth, the matcha needs to be shaded — typically, farmers use a special tarp for this. But Kuni has helped farmers install solar panels atop a structure to harness sunlight. The power is then sold to the utility, enabling farmers to earn an additional ~20% of revenue for farmers, helping to offset the costs of organic farming and bridging the rural-urban wage gap, while also providing clean energy to cities. It’s a win-win-win. And with exclusive technology rights in Japan to use these custom-designed, dynamic solar panels, Kuni is the only person marrying high-efficiency solar power and organic matcha farming.

Plus, no pesticides are used and the farm is a part of a closed-loop system where the crops are fertilized with 100% organic food scraps produced by the local community. Instead of becoming waste in landfills, the scraps are dehydrated and recycled into organic fuel for the plants. 

 

I’m proud to share that Matchaful will release the first-of-its-kind single-origin, organically grown and solar-powered Japanese matcha, with a 100% transparent supply chain. Matchaful is the only foodservice brand purveying this single-origin matcha, and that’s a huge source of pride for me and a major step forward in the matcha supply chain.

 

 

 

Now, you’ll know the authenticity and provenance of this matcha, from farm to whisk.

 

 

 

 

Matchaful’s single-origin line will be available in Hikari (for sipping) and Kuni (for lattes and baking) grades. “Hikari” references the sun and is the Japanese translation for “glow” or “light” and was inspired by the special way this matcha was grown. Kuni is, of course, named after the man who helped us bring this matcha to you. I can’t wait for you to try this incredible matcha!