From mistake to idea

"So, why matcha of all things?" you might ask. Yes, it's true, matcha is no longer a secret tip, and there are already many providers on the market. But what attracted me to matcha and why I still see great potential in it, I want to explain in this post. The story starts on a sunny day, in a place where I least expected it.

In the picturesque old town of Bern, my hometown, I was sitting one beautiful spring day with a good friend in a cozy café. I still remember exactly: I had ordered a cappuccino and was engrossed in the conversation. Meanwhile, the waiter brought our order. But when I wanted to take a sip, I hesitated. Instead of the expected coffee brew, a green liquid looked back at me. Matcha, as it turned out.

Until recently, I only knew matcha from the internet. My knowledge about it was limited and honestly, I had some prejudices: I saw it as expensive, too sweet, and merely a short-lived trend. Therefore, I never felt the need to try matcha. But fate had other plans and I decided to give the served matcha latte a chance. I had no idea what to expect and must admit that I even wrinkled my nose at the first sip.

After leaving the café, I noticed how the unique taste of matcha stuck in my mind. Driven by my curiosity, I immediately began researching this green powder on the internet. What I found there was a confusing mix of promises and claims: "Lose weight with matcha," "happier through matcha," "more concentration," "fewer illnesses" – the list of alleged benefits seemed endless. I researched further and delved deeper into the world of matcha. It turned out that many of the claimed benefits were at least partially true, but much also seemed exaggerated and marketed in a misleading way. Many providers were not very transparent about their products. It was hard for me to tell which provider really offered high-quality matcha and which exploited customers' ignorance.

My first matcha I bought in a physical store because it gave me some security. I experimented with matcha and over time noticed some benefits, such as improved sleep and a more even distribution of energy throughout the day. My routine with matcha quickly became a habit and soon I had almost completely replaced my daily coffee routine with matcha, which would have been unthinkable just two months ago. I tried different providers and was also interested in blends. It was not easy to find really good matcha, and many of the blends contained a lot of sugar, which I wanted to avoid as much as possible in my daily consumption.

The emergence of the idea to open my own online shop was a gradual process. It was small ideas and inspirations that came to me while preparing matcha. Over time, I also became more and more of a matcha enthusiast and was able to convince many friends and relatives to drink matcha. Ultimately, however, there were three decisive factors that motivated me to start my own shop:

I was often skeptical about online matcha offers because the quality of this product is hard to assess. Many providers know how to use this and invest heavily in marketing for new customer acquisition, causing the quality of the matcha to often take a back seat. My goal is to take a more sustainable path based on trust and long-term customer relationships. Many providers neglect the actual value and background of matcha and instead focus on quick profit and fleeting trends.

Matcha is a new product that still needs to establish itself in Western society. The biggest challenge I see is educating people about matcha. Customers should be able to assess offers themselves and find the right product for them. Often, consumers' ignorance is exploited with misleading advertising messages. Here lies great potential to sustainably gain customers' trust through good education.

Matcha has a unique taste that can be creatively combined with other flavors. Although there are already many matcha recipes and products, I see great potential in developing healthy, delicious powder blends that contain little or no sugar. Often, matcha is overly sweetened in many products, which in my opinion masks both the taste and the philosophy of matcha. Additionally, I believe many people do not like the pure matcha flavor but could love it in combination with other ingredients, and that without much sugar.

Not long after, I shared the idea with my colleague Philemon and we began developing ideas together. How the team behind Yago ultimately came together, I will tell in the next post.