Josephine Au first tried matcha when she was in high school, well before the trendy green drink exploded in popularity. Her appreciation for matcha stayed consistent after graduating from Western University’s Ivey Business School and during her marketing career at companies like Open Farm and Fable. Ahead of the matcha boom a few years back, Au co-founded e-commerce matcha company Emeri with her business partner, Justin Ng. “We travelled to Japan to understand what a high-quality matcha should look like,” says Au. The duo worked on the business for approximately a year before leaving their corporate jobs and officially launching in summer 2024.
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That education-first approach became central to Emeri’s mission: helping customers discover their ideal matcha by sourcing from generational family farms in Japan. “We believe there is no one-size-fits-all approach to tea,” Au explains. “We don’t define the best matcha; we help you find your matcha.” Since launch, they’ve served over 12,000 customers through their online store and at Emeri Matcha Bar, a temporary weekend pop-up that became a Vancouver hot spot. In 2025, when U.S. shipping tariffs essentially halted half of all online sales, the matcha bar’s local following helped sustain the business, prompting them to prioritize using Canadian ingredients (tea from Japan excluded). “That was a really big consumer shift for us.”
Over the next few years, Emeri aims to open a permanent Vancouver location and expand both its product offerings and educational resources to meet diverse taste preferences. “Our goal is to create a welcoming environment where people can come together and build community through the shared experience of tea,” says Au.
“Launching Emeri wasn’t a career move; it was a passion project.”
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