Monthly Matcha Market & Origin Report – June 2026

June 2026: Uji First Crop Tencha Auctions End at High Levels

The First Crop Tencha Auction Season in Kyoto/Uji Has Now Concluded

The final JA Kyoto tencha auction for the 2026 first crop season was held on Friday, June 19. This gives us a clearer view of how the Uji tencha market developed throughout the season.

Overall, the key point is that volume increased, but prices also rose further due to strong demand.

Compared with 2025, the total volume traded through the 2026 auctions increased significantly. In 2026, there were 16 auction rounds, with 6,453 entries and a total traded volume of approximately 506 tons. This represents an increase of about 21% compared with the 2025 traded volume of approximately 419 tons.

The increase in volume is a positive sign from a supply perspective. However, it is difficult to explain this increase by a single factor. Weather conditions, growing conditions, harvest timing, and producers’ response to growing tencha demand may all have played a role.

At the same time, despite the increase in supply volume, prices remained high. On a volume-weighted average basis, the 2026 average price was approximately 21% higher than the full-season average for 2025.

In our previous report, based on data from the early part of the season, we reported that the 2026 Uji market was approximately 32% higher than the 2025 average. After all auctions were completed, the increase became somewhat more moderate. One reason is that the 2026 harvest progressed earlier than in 2025, so comparing data at the same point in the calendar year made the market appear higher than the full-season trend. In general, as the harvest moves into the later stages, leaves become harder and prices tend to decline. When the harvest progresses earlier, this type of timing effect can appear in the data.

In the end, although volume increased, the first crop season closed at a price level even higher than 2025.

Uji Matcha and Small-Lot Raw Materials

This is a slightly different topic, but we would also like to look at the volume per auction entry.

We are sometimes asked by customers: “Which farm does this matcha come from?”

As interest in origin and producers grows, this is a very natural question. However, the production structure of Uji matcha is somewhat different from what many people may imagine.

In the 2026 Uji first crop tencha auctions, there were 6,453 entries across the season, with a total traded volume of approximately 506 tons. When divided by the number of entries, the average volume per entry was less than 80 kg.

Furthermore, this figure of less than 80 kg refers to the volume of aracha at the auction stage. In practice, it includes stems and other parts that are removed during finishing, so the final usable amount for matcha is even smaller.

In other words, the Uji tencha market is made up of many relatively small raw material lots.

For this reason, a finished matcha product is not always made from the raw material of a single farm or a single field. In many cases, multiple tencha lots are evaluated, selected, and combined to create a consistent quality profile. This is also one of the important roles of a matcha manufacturer.

Kagoshima Market Conditions

Outside Kyoto/Uji, the market also remains strong.

As mentioned in our previous report, at the 2026 prefecture-wide tencha trading event held by the Kagoshima Prefecture Tea Industry Council, the average price for conventional and organic tencha combined increased by approximately 80% compared with the previous year.

This was the result of a specific trading event and does not represent the entire market. However, the actual trading environment in Kagoshima has generally been moving in a similar direction.

Thanks to our past transaction volume and relationships with producers and suppliers, we have been able to secure raw materials at conditions somewhat below the strongest market levels. Even so, the Kagoshima tencha market remains very firm.

One reason appears to be that Kagoshima is a production region well suited to the export market.

Uji is highly regarded as one of Japan’s leading high-quality matcha origins. However, raw materials that are suitable for stricter markets such as the EU, including organic or pesticide-free production, are limited. Kagoshima, by contrast, has a large tea-growing area and high production volume, with many relatively large-scale tea fields. This makes it easier to manage risks such as pesticide drift from surrounding fields.

As export demand grows rapidly, the importance of Kagoshima raw materials, which can more easily meet the requirements of a wide range of markets, is increasing further. As a result, demand for Kagoshima raw materials is extremely strong, and this year the Kagoshima market appears to be moving even more firmly than Uji.

About Pricing for Products Using the 2026 Crop

Given the 2026 market situation, we are deeply concerned about the possibility of further price increases.

In recent years, Japanese matcha has come to be enjoyed by people around the world, and it has gradually become established on café menus.

However, if raw material prices rise too far, there is a risk that the growing use of matcha itself could be damaged. For matcha to become a long-lasting ingredient around the world, rather than a temporary trend, it needs not only quality but also pricing that allows professional users to continue using it.

For this reason, apart from raw material market movements, we would like to carefully consider our selling prices from a long-term perspective.

That said, given the current raw material market, we believe it will be difficult to keep prices for 2026 crop products unchanged. We will carefully evaluate the quality of the raw materials and confirm the results of residue testing before finalizing our 2026 crop lineup and pricing. At this stage, we hope to announce the 2026 crop lineup and prices around late July to early August.

As a positive update, although the quantities are expected to be limited, we are preparing to expand our selection of single-origin products. We hope to share more specific information in next month’s report.