Japanese green tea-flavoured sweets for a sweet tooth
TOKYO: Japanese green teaflavoured confectionery is popular not only among residents of Japan but also foreign tourists.
The finely powdered Japanese green tea, matcha, is associated by many Japanese with the traditional tea ceremony. But with itssavouryaroma,hintofbitterness and healthy image, it is also an ingredient for various kinds of foodtoday,includingWestern-style confectionery.
Recently, a 24-year-old tourist from Hong Kong was looking for somethingtobuyamong30 matchaflavoured sweets displayed around theentranceofGlico-YaDotombori store in Osaka.
“They are very Japanese. They aren’t too sweet and have a deep taste. Chinese teas don’t have that taste. I like it,” she said. “I’ll buy some for my friends and myself.”
Uji matcha- flavoured Giant Pocky is one of the most popular items. The product is coated with matcha-flavoured green cream. The matcha used for the product is manufactured by longstanding Japanese tea manufacturer Tsujiri inUji,KyotoPrefecture.Theproduct sells for 1,080 yen (about US$9).
Confectionery manufacturers have begun to focus on the overseas market — and the expected the popularity of matcha- flavoured products may boost the Japanese green tea market itself.
Accordingtomajorconfectionery manufacturer Ezaki Glico Co., the lineup of matcha sweets at GlicoYa has roughly tripled from last year, making the confectionery the store’sstaritems.Lastyear,itssales increasedbyalittlemorethan40per cent from the previous year.
Suchsweetsareboughtmostlyby travellersfromneighbouringAsian regions. Kabaya Foods Corp. in Okayama replaced its strawberryflavoured Quattro biscuit with matcha- flavoured biscuit last spring. With sales roughly tripling those of the strawberry version, the company will continue selling the matcha version after this spring. The product sells for 130 yen.
A duty-free shop version of matcha- flavouredKitKatchocolate of Nestle Japan Ltd. in Kobe also sells well. Its sales in 2013 were 10 times that in 2009, according to the company.Aboxcontaining10small Kit Kat packs sells for 1,500 yen, excluding tax.
The rapid increase of tourists visiting Japan and the fact that foreign tourists are exempt from consumption tax on food has made matcha sweets even more popular. Itokyuemon, a company manufacturing and selling matcha sweets, in Uji, set up duty-free counters at its main store and two outlets.