Reviewed by: Takahiro Sugiyama (CEO, meguri Inc.)
Search for matcha powder in Thailand and you will mostly find articles listing 100g bags brand by brand. If your café uses matcha in lattes every day, you need to check quantity and price, and also whether the matcha is properly registered in Thailand. We checked who takes on what under each way of buying, using public information from the Thai Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA), the Thai Revenue Department and the Thai Meteorological Department as of October 2026.
Three ways to buy matcha powder in Thailand
A café can buy matcha for business use in three ways: from an importer in Thailand, by importing it from Japan itself, or in small amounts from shops and online stores. Which one you choose decides who holds the import licence and registration.
To import food for sale in Thailand, the importing company obtains a Thai FDA food import licence (called “Or.7” after the Thai form name) and a food serial number (เลขสารบบอาหาร, commonly called the “Or Yor number”) for each matcha product. Whichever way you buy, someone holding this licence and number has imported it.
| Thai importer | Import from Japan yourself | Retail and online (in Thailand) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Import licence and food serial number | Held by the importer | Obtained by your company | Held by the shop’s supplier |
| Customs clearance, duty and import VAT | Importer | Your company or a customs broker | Not needed |
| Quantity per order | Units set by the importer | Minimum lot of the Japanese seller | Bags and tins |
| How visible origin and lot are | Depends on the importer’s documents | You get them directly from the seller | Often only the bag label |
| Suits | Shops that do not want to handle procedures | Shops that use a lot and want to manage documents themselves | Testing recipes, before opening, small menus |
How to obtain the import licence, the tariff quota and Thailand’s standard for tea are covered in How to Import Matcha into Thailand. Here we focus on which way of buying a café should choose.
Japan’s exports of powdered green tea, including matcha, to Thailand
From January to August 2026, Japan exported 140.8 tonnes of powdered green tea to Thailand, less than half the volume of the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, the unit price rose from 4,190 yen per kg in the same period a year earlier to 8,840 yen.
The figures below are from the Japan Tea Export Council, compiled from Japan’s trade statistics (Ministry of Finance) and other data.
| January to August 2025 | January to August 2026 | Year on year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powdered: export volume | 303,356kg | 140,778kg | 46.4% |
| Powdered: export value | 1,270.96 million yen | 1,244.54 million yen | 97.9% |
| Powdered: unit price per kg | 4,190 yen | 8,840 yen | |
| All green tea: export value | 1,709.06 million yen | 1,825.47 million yen | 106.8% |
Source: Japan Tea Export Council, “緑茶の国別・形状別輸出実績 2026年1〜8月” (Green tea exports by country and form, January to August 2026, compiled from Ministry of Finance trade statistics and MAFF reports, in Japanese) https://nihon-cha.or.jp/export/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026-08_cha_export.pdf
Thailand fell from 4th to 8th place among destinations compared with the same period a year earlier, and powdered tea made up 68% of export value. Volume fell by more than half while value stayed almost the same, which means the price per kg roughly doubled.
According to MAFF (Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), “powdered” in these statistics combines matcha with powdered tea made by grinding tea in a mill or similar, so it is not a figure for matcha alone. Why raw material prices in Japan rose is covered in Is There a Matcha Shortage?, and how export unit prices moved year by year in Why Is Matcha So Expensive?
Buying from a Thai importer
When you buy from an importer in Thailand, the importer takes care of the import licence, the food serial number, customs clearance, duty and import VAT. Your café can receive the matcha without handling import procedures.
What to ask the importer
In exchange for skipping the procedures, it can be harder to see where and when the matcha was made. Besides the food serial number, ask for the origin and harvest, the lot number and a certificate of analysis (COA, a document showing composition and test results) for each lot, pesticide residue test results checked against Thai standards, and the production date and how long the matcha will have left before its best-before date when it arrives.
If the importer is VAT-registered, 7% VAT is added to the invoice and a tax invoice (ใบกำกับภาษี) is issued.
Minimum quantity and delivery units
How much you can buy at a time and the delivery units are set by each importer. Work out your monthly usage first, then decide how many bags to receive and how often. How to calculate usage is covered in Bulk Matcha: How to Buy Matcha Wholesale.
Importing from Japan yourself
If you buy directly from a company in Japan, your company obtains a Thai FDA food import licence and a food serial number for each matcha product. There are more procedures, but you receive origin and lot documents directly from the seller.
What you need to import yourself
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Food import licence (Or.7) | Applied for by a company with import and storage premises in Thailand. According to a JETRO survey (as of October 2024), it takes 5 business days from application, and the fees are 5,000 baht for the application and 15,000 baht for the licence |
| Food serial number | Obtained for each matcha product. Requires a certificate showing the hygiene standard of the Japanese factory (GMP certificate) |
| Tariff quota | Tea is a quota item. 30% within the quota, 90% outside it, and waived within the quota under the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA). Applications are taken 3 times a year, and only corporations can apply (JETRO, as of October 2024) |
| Retail labels | If you sell bags or tins in the shop, they need Thai labelling and the food serial number |
The food serial number includes the number of the import premises, so if the importing company changes, a new number is needed. Even if a Japanese seller already supplies the same matcha to another importer, if you import it yourself you obtain a number under your own licence. Labelling for bags made under your shop’s name is covered in Private Label Matcha.
Receiving samples
The Thai FDA’s Import and Export Inspection Division states that importing samples for food registration, and samples to decide whether to place an order, is applied for on a dedicated form (Orr.16). A shop without a licence can also receive samples through a licensed importer.
Shipping terms change who pays
The shipping terms you agree with the Japanese seller change who pays duty and VAT. Under DAP (delivered at place), the seller delivers to the named place, and the buyer handles import clearance, duty and taxes. If you buy on DAP terms, add duty and VAT yourself to the product price and shipping in the quote before comparing.
Buying small amounts from shops and online stores
Buying bags and tins from shops and online stores in Thailand suits testing recipes before opening, or shops with few matcha items on the menu. The supplier has already handled the import procedures, so you can use it straight away.
Sold in household sizes
Many retail matcha products are sold in household sizes such as around 100g. Latte powders mixed with sugar or milk powder can sit on the same shelf as pure matcha, so check the ingredients list. Once a drink is established on your menu and you use matcha every day, compare it with business-use bags using the cost-per-cup calculation below.
Ordering by parcel from a Japanese shop
The Thai FDA has a route for importing for personal use. For food, the conditions are a total of 10kg or less per time, no similar import within the previous 3 months, and a pledge not to sell or distribute the goods. If the matcha will go into drinks you sell, check with the Thai FDA first whether this route applies.
Checking that matcha is registered in Thailand
To check whether matcha sold in Thailand is properly registered, read the 13-digit food serial number on the bag and look it up with the Thai FDA. The Thai FDA requires processed food in containers imported for sale to show the food name and this number on a Thai label.
How to read the 13-digit number
Under a 2024 Thai FDA regulation, the food serial number is shown inside a frame of a set shape, in digits at least 2mm high. The 13 digits are divided into 5 groups.
| Group | Digits | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2 | The province where the manufacturing or import premises is located |
| 2nd | 1 | The type of premises and the authority that licensed it: 1 and 2 are manufacturing premises, 3 and 4 are import premises |
| 3rd | 5 | The premises number (3 digits) and the last 2 digits of the year it was licensed |
| 4th | 1 | The authority that issued the number. 3 and 4 are for export-only food not sold in Thailand |
| 5th | 4 | The serial number of the food at that premises |
Source: Thai FDA regulation on food serial numbers (B.E.2567), Clause 5, in Thai https://food.fda.moph.go.th/media.php?id=654871674310762496&name=fda-regulation-67.pdf
If matcha imported from Japan is sold as it is, the second group will be 3 or 4, meaning an import premises. If a bag that says it is from Japan carries a manufacturing premises number, ask the seller which step was done in Thailand (repacking, for example). Numbers with 3 or 4 in the fourth group are issued for export-only food.
Looking it up with the Thai FDA search
You can look up the number on the Thai FDA’s search site for licensed products. The page lets you choose a product type such as food (อาหาร), and gives the example that food is searched by a number like “10-3-XXXXX-X-XXXX” or by product name.
Source: Thai FDA, “ค้นหาข้อมูลผลิตภัณฑ์” (Product information search, in Thai) https://porta.fda.moph.go.th/fda_search_center_new/
On oryor.com, run by the Thai FDA, you are asked to enter the number exactly as on the label, without spaces. On a smartphone, go to “ตรวจสอบเลขผลิตภัณฑ์” (check product number) on the official LINE account “@FDATHAI” and enter the number to see the product name and its status. If the product name shown differs from the bag in your hand, or the number cannot be found, stop buying that bag and check with the seller.
How you pay VAT depends on how you buy
Thailand’s VAT (value added tax) is 7%. It applies to imported matcha at import, and to matcha bought locally if the seller is VAT-registered. What differs is who pays it, and who can deduct it.
Registration threshold and when VAT can be deducted
According to the Thai Revenue Department, a business whose annual turnover exceeds 1.8 million baht applies for VAT registration within 30 days of exceeding it. Businesses below that can also register. A registered business pays the VAT on its sales minus the VAT on its purchases.
For local purchases, the document is the tax invoice issued by the seller. For imports, the receipt issued when the Customs Department collects VAT is also treated as a type of tax invoice. VAT at import is charged on the CIF value (cost of goods, insurance and freight combined) plus duty. The period of the reduced 7% rate has been extended to 30 September 2027.
VAT by way of buying
| Way of buying | Who pays VAT | What your café should check |
|---|---|---|
| Thai importer | The importer (added to the invoice) | Whether a tax invoice is issued |
| Importing yourself (DAP etc.) | Your company (sometimes through a customs broker) | The name on the customs receipt, and the cost including duty and VAT |
| Retail and online (in Thailand) | Included in the price if the seller is registered | Whether you can ask for a tax invoice |
A shop that is not registered cannot deduct VAT on purchases, so it should count the amount including VAT as its cost. There are also exceptions in how VAT and duty apply to tea, so if you import yourself, read the “Tariff quota, JTEPA and 7% VAT” section of How to Import Matcha into Thailand and then confirm with your customs broker.
Storing matcha in heat and humidity
In central Thailand, the mean temperature ranges from 26.2 to 29.7°C by season, and mean relative humidity is 73% over the year and 78% in the rainy season. This is above the 25°C at which matcha kept its quality in a storage test, so keep it cool from the day it arrives.
These figures are the Thai Meteorological Department’s averages for 1981 to 2010. In a storage test of raw matcha for processing, published in the Tea Research Journal (Japan), the matcha kept its product characteristics for 24 weeks at 25°C or below, while at 37°C it was usable for only 3 to 4 weeks. Yamamasa Koyamaen, a Kyoto tea merchant, recommends storing unopened matcha in the freezer, refrigerator or similar, and bringing it back to room temperature before opening.
With an importer, check temperature control in the warehouse and delivery. If you import yourself, allow for days held at customs and plan how the matcha gets from arrival into your shop’s refrigerator. With retail, check that it is not on a sunny shelf. After opening, Ippodo Tea recommends using matcha within a month. How to choose bag sizes is covered in Does Matcha Go Bad?
How to compare quotes, and a checklist before you sign
Compare quotes by lining up what is inside, not grade names, and by the matcha cost per cup including the cost of getting it to you. The price per 100g or per kg alone cannot compare quotes that treat duty and VAT differently.
Line up what is inside
Grade names such as “ceremonial,” “premium” and “culinary” are labels sellers use as a guide to how the matcha is meant to be used. Put the following side by side for each quote.
| Item | What to check |
|---|---|
| Harvest | First flush only, or including second flush and later |
| Origin | Prefecture, and the breakdown if blended |
| Lot and COA | Lot number and the certificate of analysis for that lot |
| Pesticide residues | Test results checked against Thai standards |
| Packing and dates | Amount per bag, production date, time left before the best-before date |
How grades differ is covered in Matcha grades, and grades and recipes suited to lattes in How to Choose Matcha for Café Lattes.
Work out the matcha cost per cup
- Work out the delivered price per kg (product + shipping + duty and customs costs + VAT if you cannot deduct it)
- Matcha cost per cup = delivered price per kg ÷ 1,000 × grams used per cup
At 3g per cup, 1kg makes about 330 cups. Doing the same calculation for retail bags shows the difference in cost when you change how you buy. How the price per kg is set is covered in what decides the price of matcha.
What to check before you sign
- Registration: whether the food serial number on the bag can be found on the Thai FDA search or LINE and the product name matches; if you also sell bags in the shop, who adds the Thai labels
- Documents: whether origin, harvest and lot number match between the bags you receive and the documents; whether a COA for each lot and pesticide residue results checked against Thai standards are provided
- Price: whether shipping, duty, customs costs and VAT are shown on separate lines; payment terms and when prices are reviewed
- Storage and quantity: how many months remain before the best-before date on arrival; whether one bag can be used up within a month of opening
Buying from Omakase Matcha
Omakase Matcha supplies matcha bought directly from the Uji, Yame, Kagoshima, Shizuoka and Miyazaki regions, from 1kg. To Thailand, we deliver DAP, with duties and taxes paid by your shop on receipt. Payment is in advance by Wise or PayPal, and we also visit shops in Thailand.
If you want to taste before ordering, you can request up to 3 samples. Terms are on the Thailand wholesale page.
Sources
- Japan Tea Export Council, “緑茶の国別・形状別輸出実績 2026年1〜8月” (Green tea exports by country and form, January to August 2026, in Japanese) https://nihon-cha.or.jp/export/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026-08_cha_export.pdf
- MAFF, “茶をめぐる情勢（令和8年10月）” (The situation of tea, October 2026, in Japanese) https://www.maff.go.jp/j/seisan/tokusan/cha/attach/pdf/ocha-201.pdf
- Thai FDA, regulation on food serial numbers (B.E.2567), in Thai https://food.fda.moph.go.th/media.php?id=654871674310762496&name=fda-regulation-67.pdf
- Thai FDA, “ค้นหาข้อมูลผลิตภัณฑ์” (Licensed product search, in Thai) https://porta.fda.moph.go.th/fda_search_center_new/
- Thai FDA, oryor.com, “ตรวจสอบเลขผลิตภัณฑ์สุขภาพ” (Check a health product number, in Thai) https://oryor.com/check-product-serial
- Thai FDA Food Division, checking the Or Yor number on LINE in 3 steps (25 June 2023, in Thai) https://food.fda.moph.go.th/press-release/foodnews-25
- Thai FDA, imported food must have a Thai label and the Or Yor number (4 April 2024, in Thai) https://www.fda.moph.go.th/news/%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%B7%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%89%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81
- Thai FDA Import and Export Inspection Division, “Import health product to Thailand for personal use” (in Thai) https://logistics.fda.moph.go.th/import-health-products-for-personal-use/%20import-health-product-to-thailand-for-personal-use
- Thai FDA Import and Export Inspection Division, food imported for other purposes (in Thai) https://logistics.fda.moph.go.th/imported-for-other-purposes/%20food-imported-for-other-purposes
- Thai Revenue Department, “คู่มือใบกำกับภาษี” (Tax invoice handbook, in Thai) https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/user_upload/ebook/taxinvoice.pdf
- Thai Revenue Department, businesses not required to register for VAT (in Thai) https://www.rd.go.th/7060.html
- Thai Revenue Department, VAT guide for SMEs (in Thai) https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/user_upload/SMEs/infographic/SME_lv3_1.pdf
- Thai Revenue Department, press release 18/2569, 7% VAT period extended to 30 September 2027 (in Thai) https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/user_upload/news/2569thai/news18_2569.pdf
- JETRO, “茶の輸入規制、輸入手続き（タイ）” (Import regulations and procedures for tea, Thailand, as of October 2024, in Japanese) https://www.jetro.go.jp/world/asia/th/foods/exportguide/greentea.html
- JETRO, “DAP（仕向地持込渡）条件について” (About DAP terms, in Japanese) https://www.jetro.go.jp/world/qa/04A-011212.html
- Thai Meteorological Department, “ภูมิอากาศของประเทศไทย” (Climate of Thailand, in Thai) https://www.tmd.go.th/info/%E0%B8%A0%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A8%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A2
- Thai Meteorological Department, “ภูมิอากาศของประเทศไทย (2)” (Climate of Thailand, part 2, humidity, in Thai) https://tmd.go.th/info/%E0%B8%A0%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A8%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A2-%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B2-2
- Haraguchi et al., “原料抹茶の保存条件が品質に与える影響” (Effect of storage conditions on the quality of raw matcha), Tea Research Journal No. 93 (2002), in Japanese https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/cha1953/2002/93/2002_93_1/_pdf
- Yamamasa Koyamaen, “抹茶の取扱い” (Handling matcha, in Japanese) https://www.yamamasa-koyamaen.co.jp/matcha/basic/handling.html
- Ippodo Tea, “How to Keep Your Matcha Fresh” https://ippodotea.com/blogs/ippodo-tea-blog/how-to-keep-your-matcha-fresh
