The Brand Behind Dunkin's Matcha Powder

Unless you scour ingredient lists for the items on all your favorite chains' menus, you likely don't know what goes into everything you order. And while it's not often worth the trouble of figuring out every last component, it can be helpful to know the source when it comes to matcha. For instance, Starbucks' matcha tea blend comes with sugar already included, so when ordering these beverages, you may want to scale back on any additional syrup pumps.

With Dunkin' Donuts we can go one step further and identify the actual brand of matcha the chain (most likely) uses. Similar to Starbucks, Dunkin' includes a matcha blend in its Iced Matcha Latte, which incorporates sugar, the concentrated green tea powder, and fruit pectin (a thickener). According to Jee Choe, beverage blogger at Oh How Civilized and certified tea sommelier, Dunkin' deploys Aiya Zen Cafe Blend Matcha in its beverages. While this hasn't been confirmed by the chain, alleged employees have also mentioned that their store uses blends from this brand. Aiya sells bags of its Sweetened Matcha Blend online, and their ingredient lists do match up exactly to what Dunkin' displays in its drinks.

So what do we know about Aiya Matcha? The company has been around since 1888 and it's currently the largest producer of Japanese matcha. Its powder is sourced from green tea leaves in Nishio, Japan, where Aiya claims more than 80% of the location's plantation harvesting rights. In its 2020 inside look at matcha at Dunkin', the coffee chain also highlighted that its powder is produced in the same area. But while five generations of the Sugita family have managed the Aiya business, it didn't begin exporting its products to North America until 1983. Today, it's become a wholesale provider to cafes and businesses, and a bulk supplier to manufacturers in North America.

Aiya prides itself on producing organic matcha, and some of its offerings are certified JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standards) Organic and USDA Organic through Quality Assurance International. If you want to give them a try outside of Dunkin', you can find a few of its retail products on Amazon — including tins and bags of the powder (sweetened or unsweetened), to-go sticks, and accessories like bamboo whisks and bowls. Or, just head to your local Dunkin' Donuts to sample the chain's hot, iced, or frozen matcha latte.