JAPAN
Susuki Shigehiko is the eighth-generation owner of Marushichi Senchai, a tea wholesaler. It makes the strongest matcha green tea chocolate and gelato that physics makes possible, which it sells mainly through its Tokyo store that has become a prestige landmark and winner of international awards.
The eight levels of the sweets begin with a low concentration of matcha powder, 1.2%, and escalate through to the mid-range 5.1% and second most intense, 13.3%. Then comes the leap to Matcha 7, 29.1%. Beyond that, chocolate loses consistency and crumbles. Matcha 7 is intensely bitter which adds to its newsworthiness.
This pushing the limits reflects the branding strategy of the firm’s owner, Suzuki Shigehiko, who aims to make the Fujieda region’s matcha competitive with the better-known Uji tea and help restore the erosion of tea farming that marks Japan’s industry. “Everyone associates matcha with Uji in Kyoto. Fujieda is Uji-cha’s equal in quality and price, but it just doesn’t have the name recognition. Our own locals didn’t recognize the quality of the matcha we produced here.”
Suzuki set out to communicate the quality to his customers. He needed a unique value proposition. “In the era of social media, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd unless you can claim to be the best at something,” he said. Hence, the world’s most intense matcha ice cream and chocolate bar. The gelato brings out the richness and smoothness of flavor with all the complexity and lingering taste of a top rate matcha. A lower quality one would be overwhelmingly bitter.
The strategy worked superbly, with plenty of coverage in social media, TV, and magazines. The company added two stores with heavy traffic and sales despite high prices of as much as $20 for 2.5 ounces. The product line has expanded to include hojicha-infused chocolate sticks and dairy-free craft chocolates made solely of cocoa butter, sugar – and tea.
Suzuki’s broader goal is to restore Fujieda’s tea growing. It was once the center for gyokuru, a green tea that ranks among the best of the best of the best in the world. The market shrank in the 1970s as consumer tastes shifted and lower-priced competitors nibbled at its luxury position. The growers switched to tencha, the base on which matcha production is built.
Changes in Japanese lifestyles and preferences have moved away from high-end loose tea. The old and awful demeaning of women as servers of tea in offices has gone, along with all the brewing equipment. The farmer population is aging and workers both expensive and not enthusiastic about working in the tea fields. Land prices have pushed many gardens to being sold off.
Suzuki’s family led the shift from gyokuro to tencha production and he is leading the move from selling loose tea to using it as a value-added ingredient in foods and beverages, including tea-infused alcoholic drinks. This raises the obvious question: is matcha’s future as a food or a tea?