In the southwest Guizhou Province, a sweet potato instant noodle product from Sinan County became an instant sensation after adding a matcha flavor to its traditional sour-and-spicy formula. The product achieved 200,000 orders in just the first month generating close to US$1 million in sales.
Matcha has become an extremely versatile ingredient not only in desserts and beverages, but also in many food products. Guizhou is one of the world’s key matcha production bases. In China, matcha production crossed 12,000 tonnes in 2025, accounting for 60% of global production.
Gui Tea Group, a Tongren-based company, sold more than 2,500 tonnes of matcha in 2025 with sales value exceeding Rmb 500 million (US$73.8 million). The company’s products have been exported to more than 50 countries including the US, Japan and Indonesia.
Guizhou producers like Gui Tea are now looking beyond traditional tea consumption. Backed by strong local production capacity, companies are testing matcha in a wider range of food products like snacks, desserts and packaged products.
In July 2025, Gui Tea completed a matcha-themed food production base. According to Li Yun, retail sales director of the company’s matcha division, its ‘Guigui Matcha’ factory is equipped with 4 production lines covering 5 categories namely chocolates, cookies, preserved fruit products, snacks and powdered drinks. Since then, its product lineup has expanded from just over 10 to more than 30 SKUs.
Currently, matcha food products contribute more than 30% to Gui Tea’s total retail sales and this is expected to increase in the near future.
Matcha is often associated with Japan, as China abandoned powdered tea in favour of loose-leaf brewing during the Ming Dynasty, while Japanese tea farmers developed advanced techniques to enhance quality of matcha. It started to re-emerge into China in late 2010s driven by the health food wave. Now, Guizhou has become the world’s largest producer of matcha within less than a decade.
To ensure the versatility of matcha, Gui Tea has developed physicochemical mapping system that matches different aging stages and grinding mesh sizes with specific application scenarios, helping pave the way for wider industrial and retail use of matcha. As an example, to make matcha more suitable for different snacks and confectionery products, the company has adjusted grinding fineness, improved color-protection methods and developed low-temperature grinding techniques to reduce chlorophyll breakdown during baking.
