Matchaful

Matchaful is a purveyor of Japanese matcha and botanical nutrition products, selling ceremonial-grade matcha powders, roasted green tea (houjicha), sobacha, matcha-based snacks such as grain-free activated matcha granola, and tea accessories including bamboo whisks, whisk stands, bowls and gift sets. Products are sold online in 30g, 100g and 1kg formats, both as one-time purchases and through a subscription program offering a 15% discount and store credit, with free shipping on subscriptions and orders over $85. The company also operates "Farm-to-Whisk" cafés in New York City, where in-house chefs prepare a seasonal menu of matcha lattes, elixirs and plant-forward snacks described as gluten free, refined sugar free and seed oil free, in wabi-sabi influenced interiors.

The company's sourcing centers on Hattori Tea Farm, a fourth-generation family farm in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, where tea is shaded by solar panels that also generate power for nearby towns, grown without pesticides and fertilized with organic compost from the local community in a closed-loop system. Single-origin matcha is stone-milled to order in small batches at low temperatures and delivered within three months of grinding, sealed in nitrogen-flush packaging. Flagship SKUs include Kiwami, a single-cultivar Okumidori matcha that is USDA Certified Organic, Hikari single-origin matcha, and Tsuyuhikari limited reserve. All tea is described as pesticide-free or certified organic and is subjected to third-party testing for radiation, heavy metals and more than 700 pesticides and herbicides.

Founding story

Founder Hannah Habes worked early in her career at a consumer food and beverage company and ate a fast, processed diet, developing digestive issues and hair loss; consultations with doctors and nutritionists pointed to diet, and she shifted to whole, organic foods. A friend returning from Japan introduced her to matcha, which she credited with calm, sustained energy and a daily ritual. Finding that most matcha companies offered little visibility into origin because tea is typically blended across farms by distributors, she set out to source high-quality organic matcha with a transparent supply chain, taste-testing over 100 varieties and working out of her Brooklyn apartment. On an early trip to Japan she met a farmer who shaded tea beneath power-generating solar panels and handled the entire matcha-making process in-house, which became the basis of Matchaful's single-origin line.

Business model

Matchaful sells physical consumer products — matcha and tea powders, snacks, and tea ware — through its own e-commerce site, including recurring subscription plans, and operates company-run cafés in New York City. It has also sold wholesale to other cafés; by 2019 its matcha was carried in roughly 200 cafés, mostly in New York, and it entered a partnership to supply matcha drinks to the Saxbys coffee chain.

Revenue comes from direct-to-consumer online sales of matcha, tea, snacks and accessories (one-time purchases and discounted recurring subscriptions with store credit), gift cards, café sales, and wholesale supply of matcha to other cafés and coffee chains.

Traction

By 2019 Matchaful's matcha was sold in approximately 200 cafés, primarily in New York, and it had opened its first standalone Manhattan café; it now operates multiple NYC cafés and an online store with a subscription program. A Techstars company listing places headcount at 11-50 employees and the stage at pre-seed.

Latest developments

Kiwami and Tsuyuhikari matchas are now USDA Certified Organic, a designation highlighted on the company's site, and Houjicha roasted green tea has been added to the lineup. The company continues to promote its NYC Farm-to-Whisk cafés and a subscription program offering 15% savings plus 5% store credit.