As matcha, a type of green tea, has become popular among young people, the number of dessert stores made of matcha in large shopping malls such as department stores is increasing rapidly. The green color of matcha and the “wellness” trend, which aims for a healthy food culture, stimulated the buying sentiment of the younger generation.

According to the industry on the 3rd, sales of matcha specialty stores in Lotte Department Store’s nationwide stores increased by about 15% year-on-year as of the first half of the year. Amid the recent decline in the number of franchise cafe stores nationwide, matcha has been growing significantly in the highly competitive dessert industry. According to market research firm The Business Research Company, the global matcha market is expected to grow 10.4% from $3.84 billion last year to $4.24 billion this year.

Lotte Department Store introduced “Kyoto Perfect Matcha,” a dessert cafe under Japan’s leading matcha brand “Tsujiri” at Jamsil branch in September last year. It is the first store in the world outside of Japan. Related specialty stores such as “Super Matcha” and “Oseolrok” at Lotte Department Store’s main branch and Jamsil branch also showed a more than 30% increase in visitors last month compared to the same period last year. [Reporter Park Hongjoo]