Mr. Yoshiharu from Kakegawa- against the tide with organic matcha in Japan

Mr. Yoshiharu Matushita produces Matcha N°2 for us. Not only has he been growing green tea for over 40 years, but he is also constantly researching organic tea cultivation. He is alone in Japan in this: for example, in 2015, only 2.78% of the green tea produced in Japan was certified organic. Why is that?

One reason is the large number of small farmers in Japan who produce only for themselves, friends and acquaintances. Organic certification is far too costly for them and does not even make sense. In addition, BIO does not play a major role for Japanese customers, unlike customers from Germany. The taste, smell and appearance of the tea are more important. The use of pesticides, if it is necessary for a certain taste or other properties of the tea, is quite accepted by Japanese tea farmers and consumers. Basically, it is difficult to say how much of the tea grown in Japan is produced organically - but it is far more than the 2.78% suggests.

Yoshiharu san owns his own cafe in Kakegawa City. There, customers can sample his tea along with matcha ice cream and small sweets. It is important to Yoshiharuさん to grow as environmentally friendly as possible and of course also to protect his customers from any pesticides. You can buy his tea in our store.

But just have a look at his portrait video - there he himself has his say...