Japanese matcha for New York.

Who we supply in New York

The city supports every level of the category at once: specialist tea rooms sourcing at the top of the market, cafes running matcha as a serious second program, boba operators at volume across Flushing, Sunset Park, and the East Village, and a large concentration of brands looking for a Japanese supplier behind their label. Upstate, Buffalo, Rochester, and the college towns are separate markets with their own economics.

• Manhattan and Brooklyn cafes where matcha is a named menu item rather than an option.
• Boba and dessert operators in Flushing, Sunset Park, and across Queens.
• Japanese restaurants and tea rooms with customers who know the reference.
• DTC and CPG brands needing a documented Japanese origin behind their packaging.

Shipping to New York

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest East Coast gateway, with most terminal capacity physically on the New Jersey side. JFK handles substantial international air cargo including direct freight from Japan. Whichever route, the practical constraint in the city is not the port but the last mile.

• Ocean: Port of NY/NJ, with the container yards and most warehousing across the river in New Jersey.
• Air: JFK, with direct freight capacity from Japan and routine food import clearance.
• Onward: delivery windows, loading access, and street constraints matter more in the city than the distance does.

Licensing in New York

Beyond the federal import requirements, New York State's Department of Agriculture and Markets licenses food processing and food storage operations — the Article 20-C license is the one most wholesale buyers encounter — while New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene permits food service establishments within the five boroughs. Confirm both where they apply.

• An Article 20-C food processing license is the usual requirement for repacking or storing wholesale food in the state.
• In the five boroughs, food service permitting runs through the city rather than the state.

Selling into a market that already knows

New York has specialist importers bringing in single-cultivar matcha from named Uji and Kyoto producers, customers who have paid for it, and the large Japanese food distributors across the river in New Jersey already supplying most restaurants. That means two things for a wholesale buyer here. Your matcha will be compared against a real reference rather than a vague idea of quality, and a story about origin is not enough on its own — it has to hold up in the bowl.

We think this is the right market to be tested in, and we ask that the test be fair: taste our lot against your current one at the same dose and temperature, in the drink you actually sell. The specialist importers here disclose region and cultivar, and so do we; what we add is the lot number and milling date on every sachet and every wholesale bag, five grades that run from an everyday latte base to Uji koicha under one account, and a free sample kit so you can test before you commit. Where a specialist retailer will beat us is on the very top of the range in tiny quantities — and if that is what your menu needs, we will say so.

Your first order, step by step

Start with up to two grades of your choice. Free sample kits are available for US businesses. Test them in your own recipes before choosing your first wholesale order.

• Tell us what you serve. Share your menu, milk, cup size, and expected volume.
• Taste with your team. Compare the samples in the drinks your customers order.
• Get a delivery quote. Confirm grade, quantity, and shipping to New York City. Wholesale orders ship from Japan.