Wholesale matcha price per kg, explained

Ask three suppliers how much wholesale matcha costs and you get three answers that do not compare. A retail tin re-labelled “wholesale.” A bulk drum priced so low the lot has to be anonymous. And an importer's catalogue two or three hands removed from the field, where the per-kilogram figure has quietly absorbed everyone's margin on the way to you. None tells you the thing you are actually trying to price: what a cup of this matcha costs you, and why it costs that.

This guide sets out wholesale matcha pricing plainly — the real matcha price per kg and per 100 g across a full grade range, the bulk matcha cost once you work it down to cost per cup, what moves the number, and where discounts begin. The figures below are the ones we work to producer-direct from Uji, Kagoshima, and Izumo, not averages scraped from a search result. If you have been wondering how much does wholesale matcha cost without getting a straight answer, this is one.

How much does wholesale matcha cost per kilogram?

MATSU wholesale matcha runs $390 to $1,050 per kilogram FOB Japan — $39 to $105 per 100 g — across eight grades. Where a given account lands inside that range depends almost entirely on the grade the primary drink or dish needs, because that is where the volume sits. A café latte rail usually settles at the lower end; a straight whisked tea service or a premium signature drink reaches higher.

The spread is wide for a reason. The bottom of the range is a shade-grown lot engineered to read green through milk at a low cost per cup. The top is a reserve grade whose origin character is the product, whisked and served alone. Both are matcha; they answer different questions, and pricing them as one number is where buyers get lost. Two points before the table: these are producer-direct figures, so they do not carry the two or three middleman margins that inflate a resold price for the same tier of leaf; and per kilogram is the headline unit but rarely the decision unit — cost per cup, which we get to below, is what decides whether a grade works on your menu.

What is the price of each grade per kg and per 100 g?

Here is the full MATSU grade range with the wholesale price per kilogram, the per-100 g figure for trialling, and the matcha cost per cup at a standard 2 g dose. Most buyers scan straight to the band their primary use sits in — a latte rail lives in the first two or three rows, a tasting service in the last.

A few patterns are worth reading off the table. Within a single origin, price climbs with the grade tier — Uji runs from $420 Standard to $810 Signature — because the shading period and leaf selection tighten as you go up. Across origins at the same tier, Kagoshima tends to price a touch under Uji, which is why a cost-sensitive latte rail often starts at Kagoshima Standard $390/kg. And the reserve tier sits on its own: Izumo Reserve $1,050/kg is priced as a whisked-alone tea, not a milk-drink workhorse. Full sensory profiles for each grade sit in the eight grade matcha architecture and the professional catalogue.

What does matcha cost per cup at wholesale?

Per kilogram is how matcha is quoted; per cup is how it is actually spent. A one-kilogram bag yields around 500 servings at a 2 g dose, so the per-cup figure falls out of the per-kilogram price cleanly — and it is the number that decides menu margin. At the standard band a cup of matcha costs about the same as the beans in a quality espresso drink; at the reserve band it is a different economic conversation entirely.

The practical read: at a $6 menu price, a $0.78–$0.90 matcha cost leaves the same kind of margin a café expects from a quality espresso, before milk and labour. Moving a latte rail from an over-specified $810/kg grade down to the right $390–$450/kg grade saves roughly $0.72–$0.84 per cup — a bigger swing than the 5–15% volume discount, and available immediately.

This is why grade choice matters more than the discount. The grade recommendation tool maps use and volume to a shortlist so a buyer does not over-pay per cup by starting at the wrong tier.

What actually sets the price of wholesale matcha?

Wholesale matcha price is not arbitrary and it is not mostly branding. Three things move the number more than anything else, and understanding them tells you whether a quote is fair for the tier or padded on the way through a supply chain.

Origin and the specific grower

Region sets a baseline — Uji (Kyoto) carries a name premium built over centuries, Kagoshima delivers vivid, dependable leaf often at a slightly lower band, Izumo (Shimane) yields small-lot reserve character. But region alone is a blunt measure. The specific grower and field matter as much, which is why we price by tasting the actual lots each season rather than by a regional label. A quote that only says “Uji” and gives a suspiciously round number is pricing a region, not a lot.

Grade tier and shade-growing period

The single biggest lever inside a given origin is how long the leaf is shaded before harvest. Longer shading pushes chlorophyll and the amino acids behind umami up — the vivid green and rounded, non-bitter finish — while pushing yield down. Less leaf per field at higher quality is exactly why a signature grade costs more than a standard one from the same grower. When you move up our grade ladder, that is most of what you are paying for.

How many hands the matcha passes through

Every party between the field and your invoice adds margin. A conventional chain — cooperative, export house, importer of record, foodservice distributor — can be three or four steps deep, and each one prices in its cut and loses the lot-level detail. Producer-direct means grower-level sourcing through MATSU, without the usual chain of trading houses, importers, and distributors, so those middleman margins come off the number, which is why our per-kilogram figures for a given tier of leaf do not carry the mark-ups a resold equivalent does — it is the clearest single reason two “same-grade” quotes can differ by 30% or more.

Is cheaper wholesale matcha lower quality?

Not automatically — but a very low headline price per kilogram is a signal worth reading rather than trusting. It usually points to one of three things: an anonymous lot you cannot trace, a longer supply chain moving old inventory, or powder already months into its shelf life by the time it ships. None of those is visible in the price itself, which is the problem with buying on price alone.

At MATSU the lower price bands are not lower-integrity matcha. Kagoshima Standard at $390/kg is still a shade-grown lot selected by tasting — it is simply engineered to read green through milk at a low cost per cup, rather than to stand alone whisked the way a reserve grade does. It answers a different question, and it is priced for that question. Paying reserve-tier money for a latte rail does not make the latte better; it makes the cup more expensive.

Where do volume discounts begin?

Wholesale pricing rewards cadence, not a single big drop. The bands we work to are deliberately simple so a buyer can plan around them:

• List price (under 5 kg). Orders below 5 kg per grade buy at the per-kilogram list figures in the table above — no penalty, just no discount yet.
• 5–9.9 kg per order — 5% off list. The first band, for a café settling a single latte grade onto the menu.
• 10–24.9 kg — 10% off, our Wholesale Partnership. A standing order at this band adds a six-month price lock and priority lead time, so the figure you cost a menu against does not move under you between harvests.
• 25–49.9 kg — 15% off list; and 50 kg+ is custom-priced for multi-site groups and manufacturers.
• Single-shipment ceiling. A single producer-direct shipment runs up to roughly 30 kg. Larger standing needs are scheduled across shipments, so ask rather than assuming a fixed bulk tier. Minimum order is 1 kg per grade throughout.

The six-month price lock is often the more valuable half of the terms. Matcha is an agricultural product and list figures can move between harvests; locking a price for a season protects your menu costing more than a couple of percentage points off list would. If you are pricing a drink to a fixed menu figure, a locked input price is what keeps that margin real.

What does FOB Japan mean for a wholesale price?

Every figure on this page is quoted FOB Japan, and for a buyer pricing an international order that term is worth ten minutes because it is the difference between the list price and your landed cost. For MATSU wholesale orders, FOB Japan pricing means the listed product price covers the matcha packed for export from Japan. International freight, import duty or tax, and customs clearance sit on the buyer side. Here is what each of those three adds on top of the per-kilogram figure:

• International freight. The shipment moves by express courier from Japan to your door, typically 2–3 weeks, longer for some destinations. Freight is billed to you, either on your courier account or arranged with us.
• Import duty and tax. Your country sets any duty or import tax on food goods. Rates vary by destination; a customs broker or your courier can confirm the figure for matcha before you order, so there is no surprise on arrival.
• Customs clearance. A local customs broker — or your courier's brokerage service — files the entry using the shipping documents. Most buyers never touch the paperwork directly; the broker does.

What we ship to make that clean: every consignment travels with a commercial invoice and packing list in English, the two documents a broker needs to process an entry. Any specific import requirement your destination adds is confirmed on the buyer side through your broker. To hold a per-cup figure honest across borders, add these shipping-side items to the list price rather than reading the per-kilogram number as your landed cost.

How do you start without over-committing on price?

The mistake that costs the most is committing a kilogram — or several — to a grade you have only read a price for. The sequence that avoids it is short, and it keeps your money exposed only as far as your confidence in the lot:

• Taste the flagship grades first. Pull each one against your own milk and recipe with a tasting kit before any volume order, so the grade proves itself in your cup, not on a page.
• First wholesale order at 1 kg per grade. The practical entry point — roughly 500 servings, small enough to stay fresh, large enough to confirm the price works at your own volume.
• Settle the drink, then read cost per cup. Once the drink or dish is established, the per-cup figure at your real dose tells you whether the grade is right before you scale.
• Standing 10 kg+ order. When volume is steady, lock the 10% discount (15% at 25 kg) and the six-month price for the season.

Buying this way means the price you commit to at each step is a price you have already tasted. The grade diagnostic gets you to the right starting grade faster than reading a full price list cold, and the producer-direct sourcing behind every grade is what lets the same lot be held for your account as your volume grows.

How do you confirm the price before a large order?

Before you put real volume behind a per-kilogram figure, confirm two things at once: that the grade performs in your cup, and that the cost per cup pencils out at your own recipe and dose. A tasting kit does both in a single step.

Run the kit the way you actually work — same equipment, same dose, during a normal shift — and note which grade holds its colour and finishes clean at the lowest cost per cup for its job. That is the grade to put your first wholesale kilogram behind, at a price you have now verified from the cup down rather than the catalogue up. When you are ready, request the professional catalogue for full specs and wholesale pricing across all eight grades. Every shipment travels with English commercial paperwork — a commercial invoice and packing list — so an import desk can process it without back-and-forth.

Frequently asked questions