It’s 2020 and the ready to drink beverage industry has fully revamped itself to cater to a consumer base that adheres to specialized diets like keto, vegan, and gluten free, who won’t accept artificial additives, and are eager to try plant-based foods. Basically, customers expect healthy options and want to know what your RTD beverage can do for them. No doubt you’ve touted your current formula’s benefits, but it’s a new decade and a new chance to grab consumer attention with something delicious, natural, plant-based and 100% on trend. We’ll let you in on a little secret – adding matcha green tea immediately adds a wonderfully savory kick and countless nutritional benefits to almost any RTD formula.
Matcha is a powdered form of green tea, popular in Japan for over 800 years. The tea plant is specially cultivated using a method of shading that adds highly concentrated amounts of nutrients to the tea leaves, helps maintain their unique sweetness, and keeps them a lovely bright green. The leaves are then dried and ground into a fine powder. When you drink matcha, you are consuming the whole leaf and an increased amount of nutrients compared to other green teas. Scientific studies show that among other health benefits, matcha green tea is a versatile superfood that’s packed full of cell-repairing antioxidants, skin-nourishing chlorophyll, vitamins A, C & E, and an amino acid called L-Theanine that both reduces stress and improves focus of mind.
Ikeda Tea World specializes in both organic and non-organic bulk matcha, and we’ve seen countless ways that innovative companies are using matcha to enhance product formulations throughout the food and beverage, beauty, and pharmaceutical industries. The following is a brief outline of delicious pairings between bulk matcha and common ingredients and flavors that you’ve undoubtedly used in your own RTD products:
We hope this is sparking some ideas! Ikeda Tea World offers bulk organic matcha and bulk non-organic matcha in grades from culinary to ceremonial that taste fantastic in RTD beverage formulations of all kinds. Contact us to get advice about what grade of matcha works for your project and request a sample.
The following recipe idea uses our smooth and delicious culinary grade matcha green tea to add a nutritional, flavor, and color burst to a refreshing green juice recipe.
