Matcha has moved from niche to menu staple. Square's transaction data puts the matcha latte among the UK's ten most-ordered drinks in early 2026. But a lot of cafés still price it by guesswork — copying the shop down the road, or adding 50p to their coffee latte.
There's a better way, and it takes about five minutes. This guide won't tell you what to charge. It'll show you how to work out the right price for your café.
Step 1: Cost every ingredient in the cup
Start with what actually goes into one drink. Here's an example for a regular hot latte — swap in the figures from your own invoices:
| Item | Example cost |
|---|---|
| Matcha (2g at £100/kg) | 20p |
| Milk | around 40p |
| Cup and lid | around 15p |
| Total | about 75p |
Add syrups, toppings or an alternative milk if they're included. Not sure how much matcha you use per drink? Our guide to how much matcha a café uses per month covers dosing.
Step 2: Take VAT off your menu price
This is the step most people forget. In the UK, hot drinks are standard-rated for VAT at 20%, whether they're drunk in or taken away, and most cold drinks are too. So a fifth of every pound on your menu isn't yours.
Menu price ÷ 1.2 = what you actually take
A £4.20 matcha latte brings in £3.50 before VAT.
Step 3: Work out your cost percentage
Ingredient cost ÷ price before VAT = cost percentage
Using our example: 75p ÷ £3.50 = about 21%. That means 21p of every pound (before VAT) goes on what's in the cup, leaving the rest to cover staff, rent, energy and profit.
A common rule of thumb is to keep a drink's ingredient cost somewhere around 20–30% of its price before VAT. Matcha drinks usually cost more to make than a coffee latte, so they often sit towards the top of that range unless you price them accordingly.
Step 4: Work backwards from the margin you want
If you know the cost percentage you're aiming for, you can work out your menu price directly:
Ingredient cost ÷ target percentage × 1.2 = menu price
Here's a quick reference:
| Cost per drink | 20% target | 25% target | 30% target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70p | £4.20 | £3.36 | £2.80 |
| 80p | £4.80 | £3.84 | £3.20 |
| 90p | £5.40 | £4.32 | £3.60 |
| £1.00 | £6.00 | £4.80 | £4.00 |
Step 5: Sanity-check against your local market
The maths gives you a floor. Your market tells you the ceiling. In many UK cafés, matcha lattes sit above a regular coffee latte, often somewhere around £4 to £5 depending on location and size.
Customers also expect to pay a bit more for matcha. A Square survey from May 2026 found that nearly three in ten UK adults would pay extra for a drink made with a speciality ingredient like matcha — rising to more than half of Gen Z.
Don't forget the variations
- Iced drinks often use more matcha (3g is common) because cold milk and ice mute the flavour. Cost them separately.
- Large sizes need more matcha, not just more milk, or the drink tastes weak.
- Flavoured lattes (strawberry, vanilla, coconut) carry extra cost and can carry a small premium too.
- Alternative milks may need an upcharge if your base price assumes dairy.
Why cheaper matcha rarely saves money
It's tempting to protect your margin by switching to cheaper matcha. But the difference between an average matcha and a good one is often only a few pence per drink — while the difference in colour and taste is something customers notice immediately. Matcha drinkers tend to be regulars, and a dull, bitter latte is the fastest way to lose them.
Matcha for your café
Kyo's Matcha supplies UK cafés with single-origin, first-harvest ceremonial matcha from one farm in Wazuka, Kyoto. Building out your matcha menu? Request a sample through our wholesale page, cost it into your own recipe, then we'll talk trade pricing and order sizes.