I flew from the Gold Coast to join the sake festival in Melbourne.
On the 4th and 5th of July, the event was held at the Royal Exhibition Building, and we met so many customers excited to taste our matcha and tea drinks.
This was my first time joining the sake festival in Melbourne, and I genuinely enjoyed every interaction I had with people there.
What Is the Sake Festival?
The Sake Festival is the nation’s biggest Japanese nihonshu (sake) and alcohol beverage show.
Festivals are held across the country and feature hundreds of sake varieties available for tasting, with some brewers flying in from Japan to share their craft with Australia. Alongside sake, the events also include Japanese food, goods and live entertainment.
The events serve a great opportunity to experience a wide range of products without leaving the country. This year, the festival has already visited the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne, and in September, the Sake Festival is heading to Sydney.
The festival in Melbourne ran across two days and four sessions (from 11:00–15:00 and 16:00–20:00), and this time around, about 8000 people attended over two days.
It was great to see how many people are excited to experience Japanese culture.
Shiro Matcha at the Sake Festival (4th–5th of July)
This was the second time for Shiro Matcha to join the Sake Festival in Melbourne. This year, it was held at one of the most iconic buildings of Melbourne history, the Royal Exhibition Building at Carlton Gardens.
It was such an honour to sell matcha inside Australia’s first World Heritage listed building. We set up our stall right under the dome.
We brought our matcha (Wabi, Rin, and Kiwami) and Japanese tea (Wakocha, Hojicha and Genmai Matcha) from the Gold Coast, and customers tasted our full range of products across the weekend. Along the way, I picked up some interesting insights about our products too.
Next Popular Drink? Many People Liked Our Japanese Tea
It brought so much joy to see people trying our matcha and Japanese teas for the first time. I met many customers who usually don’t drink matcha but fell in love with our Japanese teas; Hojicha, Genmai Matcha and Wakocha.
Watching their reactions after each taste was genuinely one of the best parts of the weekend.
In fact, Genmaicha and Wakocha were so popular that we sold out within a few hours of the opening on Sunday. If you missed out at the event, all three teas are available at our online store. And if you haven’t tried them yet, this is your sign to give our Japanese teas a go.
Hojicha
Hojicha is a roasted green tea made from carefully selected Japanese tea leaves. Unlike traditional green tea, it is roasted at a high temperature, which creates a rich, nutty aroma and a mellow, slightly sweet taste with very low bitterness. It also contains significantly less caffeine than matcha, making it ideal for customers seeking a calming, non-stimulating beverage.
Genmai Matcha
Our Genmai Matcha powder is a traditional Japanese blend of carefully selected green tea leaves and roasted brown rice. Lower in caffeine than matcha, Genmai Matcha is popular among health-conscious customers and a wide age range. It’s perfect not only as a hot or iced tea but also as an ingredient in gelato, sweets, and light meals.
Japanese Black Tea
Our Japanese Black Tea powder is made from tea leaves grown and fermented in Japan, offering a mild smooth flavour with less bitterness and a subtle natural sweetness compared to most Western black teas. Perfect for drinks, gelato, and baked goods, this unique tea adds a refined Japanese twist to your creations and is ideal for cafes and dessert makers looking to offer something distinct yet approachable.
What Customers Are Saying About Matcha
During the event, I was asked so many great questions such as how to make matcha, how to judge the quality of matcha powder, the global matcha shortage, and the difference between our products.
It was a great opportunity to talk with people face-to-face, and I’m looking forward to bringing all of this feedback to the team to make Shiro Matcha even better. If you’d like to learn more about our products or about Shiro Matcha, please visit our website.
I also spent a lot of time talking with cafe owners about matcha products more broadly. What I heard again and again was frustration with unstable supply. Many cafes are tired of sudden out-of-stock notices or waiting weeks for their orders.
As matcha’s popularity has skyrocketed, some suppliers are struggling to keep up, which has driven up the price of matcha drinks.
The Secret to the Stable Supply of Shiro Matcha
One of the biggest reasons cafe owners choose Shiro Matcha is our supply chain. The traditional matcha supply chain typically looks like this:
- Farmer
- Agricultural Cooperative / Collector
- Manufacturer (Final Processing & Packaging)
- Export Trading House (Middle Margin / Risk of Supply Cut)
- Import Agent (Middleman Margin)
- Domestic Wholesale (Middleman Margin / Inventory Risk)
- Client
That’s five or more intermediaries, which make the process slow and complicated. Supply often depends on the market fluctuations, leading to delays or shortages, and each middleman along the way takes a margin.
Shiro Matcha takes a different approach. We partner directly with Japanese tea farmers, removing the middle layers entirely. By managing production, import and logistics ourselves, we can secure production capacity in advance and take end-to-end ownership of the journey.
Wrap up
I learned so much during the Sake Festival in Melbourne. It was wonderful talking with customers and cafe owners about their passion for our products, as well as the challenges they face with matcha and the industry.
I’m looking forward to keep listening, keep learning, and keep improving what we offer.
In September, we are heading to Sydney for the final Sake Festival of 2026. I can’t wait to meet everyone there!
For more information, follow us on Instagram @shiro_matcha_official and on LinkedIn or visit our website.
