Who we are
Hi, we’re Jules Reyes and Marc St Raymond, co-founders of Kissako Matcha and Mindful Drops, and creators of Matcha Program, an educational platform designed to resource cafe operators with the tools and knowledge to elevate their matcha programs. For over a decade, we’ve built our careers in the matcha industry, beginning as part of the founding team at Jade Leaf Matcha, where we helped scale the brand from a single Amazon listing into the #1 selling matcha brand in the U.S.—an omnichannel, multimillion-dollar company acquired in 2020. Through Matcha Program, our mission is to bridge a major gap in the industry: most matcha education is written for consumers, not operators, and we’re here to change that.
why we started the matcha program
While our main focus is growing Mindful Drops, we remain passionate about supporting small businesses, especially high-volume cafes. Matcha demand keeps growing, yet most programs don’t get the same intentional support and systems that coffee programs do. Baristas, often on the frontlines of matcha education, are left without the training or resources they need.
That’s why we created Matcha Program: to scale the kinds of resources, stories, and systems we’ve shared behind closed doors so operators can thrive. Think of us as an extension of your team, practical guidance you can keep in your pocket.
meet your matcha educators
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Follow @julesreyes_
Jules is an entrepreneur, matcha category strategist, and educator with over a decade of experience advancing matcha education and culture across the U.S. consumer and café space. She is the co-founder of Kissako Matcha and Mindful Drops.
As a founding team member of Jade Leaf Matcha, Jules helped scale the brand from a single Amazon listing into the #1 selling matcha company in the U.S., culminating in a multimillion-dollar acquisition.
Through her work advising matcha brands in the U.S. and Japan and helping specialty cafés build intentional matcha programs, Jules recognized a gap: most publicly accessible matcha education was written for consumers, with little guidance tailored to café operators. That insight inspired Matcha Program, a free educational platform that equips cafés and baristas with the tools, systems, and knowledge to approach matcha with the same rigor and consistency as specialty coffee.
Jules’s work centers on practical education grounded in the realities of café service. She helps teams build the confidence and systems to improve consistency, profitability, and customer experience, creating a lasting place for matcha in modern café environments.
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Follow @marcstraymond
Marc St Raymond is a serial entrepreneur, brand builder, and business strategist with over a decade of experience in the matcha industry. As co-founder of Jade Leaf Matcha, he helped pioneer the mainstream adoption of matcha in the U.S., making Japanese matcha more accessible through transparent sourcing and fair pricing. Under his leadership, the brand scaled from a single Amazon listing into a multimillion-dollar omnichannel business, culminating in its acquisition.
Today, Marc is the co-founder of Kissako Matcha and Mindful Drops. He also serves as co-creator of Matcha Program, an educational platform offering free frameworks and resources that help cafés and pop-ups strengthen their matcha programs.
Marc’s work sits at the intersection of brand building, product innovation, and operational strategy, translating consumer insight into meaningful beverage experiences and sustainable business growth.