Tourists buy matcha products at a store in Jiangkou county, Tongren, Southwest China’s Guizhou province, on May 29. SHEN YIKAI/FOR CHINA DAILY
GUIYANG — The unlikely success of an instant noodle formula is adding a more diversified flavor to the current matcha boom in Southwest China’s mountainous Guizhou province — the latest product to do so.
In May, a sweet potato instant noodle product from Sinan county in Tongren became a consumer hit after adding a matcha flavor to its traditional sour-and-spicy formula. Made mainly from local sweet potatoes and blended with matcha powder produced in Tongren, the product kept its familiar spicy-sour taste, while using matcha’s fresh aroma to cut through greasiness.
Noodle consumers responded quickly, the product drawing more than 200,000 orders in its first month, generating over 6 million yuan ($884,200) in sales. During a trial sale at a matcha store in Tongren over the May Day holiday, 100 boxes sold out in one day.
For Guizhou, the noodles are more than a viral product. The product shows how matcha, a finely ground green tea rooted in China’s traditional tea culture, is being turned into a broader business spanning packaged food, retail shelves and tourism spending.
Behind that, consumer demand is a mature supply chain that has helped turn Guizhou into one of the world’s key matcha production bases. Data from the China Tea Marketing Association show that China’s matcha output exceeded 12,000 metric tons in 2025, accounting for about 60 percent of global production.
Gui Tea Group, a Tongren-based company, sold more than 2,500 tons of matcha in 2025, with output value exceeding 500 million yuan. The group says its products have been exported to more than 50 countries and regions, including the United States, Japan and Indonesia.
The success of the noodles shows how Guizhou producers are looking beyond traditional tea consumption. Backed by strong local production capacity, companies are testing matcha in a wider range of foods, turning a once niche tea powder into an ingredient for snacks, desserts and packaged products.
In July 2025, Gui Tea Group 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 four production lines covering five categories: chocolate, cookies, preserved fruit products, snacks and powdered drinks.
The product lineup has expanded from just over 10 items to more than 30. Li said Gui Tea Group’s total retail sales reached 100 million yuan in 2025, including about 30 million yuan from matcha food products. The company aims to triple its retail sales to 300 million yuan in 2026.
The momentum has continued into this year. In the first five months, Gui Tea Group’s matcha food sales approached 50 million yuan, while total retail sales had already surpassed 100 million yuan.
“More consumers are coming to Guizhou specifically for matcha-related experiences, and matcha drinks and foods on the market are becoming increasingly diverse,” Li said.
At the foot of Mount Fanjingshan, a UNESCO-listed world heritage site in Tongren, the trend has taken physical form. A specialty store called Fumo Matcha opened on May 23, offering more than 20 matcha products, from ice cream and milk tea to craft beer, noodles and jelly.
The store’s founder, Wu Li, is a Tongren native. Wu said she had tried matcha foods elsewhere in China before realizing that most of the matcha powder used in the domestic market came from her hometown. That discovery led her to return and open a shop linking production bases more directly with consumers.
Since opening, the store has recorded peak daily revenue of 15,000 yuan, with out-of-town tourists making up about 80 percent of customer traffic.
“The recent matcha craze has helped bring renewed attention to China’s long-standing powdered-tea traditions, including the ‘diancha’ culture, or tea whisking, of the Song Dynasty (960-1279),” Wu said.
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