Made by Marlo, Episode 2: A Long Time Brewing
Some stories start with a lightbulb moment. Ours? It’s been steeping for years — slowly but surely.
2019
Freya’s first real connection to Japanese tea culture came during her university days, working at a Korean and Japanese restaurant café. She was helping the company’s Art Director with design and photography. From then on, two constants emerged in our lives: design and matcha.
2022
Fast forward a few years and a big leap, Freya and Jasmine finally moved to Japan. We started sharing café recommendations, posting matcha content and giving travel tips. Exploring our new home while getting Marlo Studios off the ground.
2023
We took a trip to Kyoto and visited our first-ever matcha farm. We saw every step of the process and left with an even deeper appreciation (and obsession) for matcha.
2024
That’s when the “what if” conversations began. What if we made our own brand? At first, it sounded completely unrealistic, a product business felt like a different world from our client work. But the idea stuck. We spoke about it every day. We started mocking up brand concepts just for fun.
At the same time, we were planning our digital product launch for matcha branding (see: Marlo’s Market). Somewhere along the way, we decided to create a small batch of limited-edition matcha gifts for friends and family, just to test the waters. 👀🌊
Later that year, we started reaching out to suppliers in Japan and people in the industry. Special thanks to our friend Hana (@otofromtky) for guiding us through the sourcing process and helping us find incredible tea samples.
2025
We finally secured our matcha powder and partnered with a packaging supplier to create some initial samples. Since this was our MVP (minimum viable product) and a tiny first run, we made design decisions fast, maybe too fast. (Let’s just say our first packaging is not our favorite.)
We shared the matcha with friends, family, and creators, hosted a few cosy “home cafés”, and discussed feedback. The verdict? The powder itself was a hit, smooth, vibrant, and full of flavor. That encouragement gave us the push we needed to keep going.
💚 Thank you for all the love and support so far. In the next episode, we’ll take you behind the scenes of the design process, from early sketches to final packaging.
Follow our journey on Instagram, and stay tuned.
