By early 2022, things were starting to take shape under the Ceremony brand. I began developing products, refining our packaging, and designing our logos to support the brand's image within the South African matcha space. Suppliers had been secured in Japan, and what had existed for years in the back of my mind was finally becoming something real. Every decision was made with care and careful deliberation.
From the very beginning, Ceremony was never envisioned simply as a company that sold matcha in Cape Town. My intention was to introduce consumers to a lifestyle that was rooted in ritual and wellbeing. Matcha may have been the entry point, but it was never the full picture.
I had a general launch month in mind, but few plans for how I would execute it. The first Ceremony products to arrive were not actually matcha but a collection of beautiful, minimalistically designed round-edged yoga mats. They were unlike any other yoga mats I had tried, and they reflected the aesthetic that would come to define the Ceremony brand. To this day, they remain some of our favourite products.Â
Having spent much of the startup budget on these mats, launching the brand required a different approach. I decided that instead of hosting a traditional launch event, we would create an experience that felt more aligned with the product itself. Little did I know that this would become the starting point for a city-wide community experience.
The first Ceremony yoga event was hosted at Lemkus, a local clothing brand with its headquarters in the city of Cape Town. It was a small gathering of mostly friends, creatives, and familiar faces, all of whom came together to move their bodies to a hip-hop, R&B flow, and enjoy a ceremonial matcha in a studio reminiscent of New York’s Y7 Studio. The experience felt deeply human. As guests sipped on their matcha lattes after the class, the response was electric. Attendees connected not only with the product but also with the experience and the people around them.
Word spread quickly, photos circulated, and before I knew it, the Ceremony yoga classes became a bi-monthly event in the Mother City. Classes sold out month after month, for an experience that can only be described as having a palpable energy.
Our Ceremony community began to form around a shared appreciation for matcha, wellness, movement, and meaningful connections. These events taught me one of the most valuable lessons for Ceremonys' journey. It taught me that people are not just looking for the perfect product, but they crave community and friendship alongside it. To this day, community remains one of the most important pillars of the brand.Â
As Ceremony continues to evolve and grow, the philosophy remains the same. We believe that good-quality matcha can form the backbone of a daily ritual of self-care. It’s an invitation to pause and to reconnect to what really matters.Â
We are only at the beginning of our story.
X Mikayla McClean
