September Riverview Roundup: Farewell to Jane’s Matcha, Welcome New Vendors, & Peach Pie Fest Wrap Up
Hello and welcome! Say hello to our very first River view Roundup, where we catch you up on exciting things that happened over the last month and what’s upcoming with our market and vendors!
You might be wondering, “How much can happen at a farmers market to warrant a monthly newsletter?” Well, it’s no secret that we’re more than a market, and with all the community events and programming we offer, we thought it would be a good idea to highlight the Sunday buzz that happens in River view Park.
This month’s headline is the departure of the one and only Jane’s Matcha from the farmers market.
A Fond Send Off for Jane’s Matcha
In August we said goodbye to Jane’s Matcha, the market’s first matcha vendor. For the past three years, they offered a wonderful menu of homemade, top-notch matcha beverages and established themselves as one of our most popular vendors. On any given Sunday visit you’d notice their line, as well as the brightly-colored green and white layered drinks being enjoyed by many around the park. So who are they exactly, and what is their story? In this issue, we’ve interviewed owner Jane Yang for her story on how the business started, its massive popularity, and how it came to put down roots in The Heights with its newly founded physical storefront.
Jane’s Matcha, named after owner Jane Yang, first debuted at the market in the 2024 season and was an instant hit. Their business grew rapidly in popularity, and not just because they were the first and only matcha vendor – but largely due to the high-quality ingredients and creative seasonal combinations offered. One thing that might surprise you is that despite its enormous success today, the business started out as nothing more than a side hustle.
“I was just doing it on the weekends as something I really enjoyed,” said Yang. “I’ve always loved matcha, and so I started serving it at River view [Park] because that’s the park that I’d go to with my dog and I thought it’d be really fun to bring something that I really enjoyed to the community where I lived.”
While other local businesses may include matcha as an option on their menu, it was truly the feature product at Jane’s, making it a rather daring venture. Shops that mainly feature matcha as their main and only offering tend to be a rare occurrence. In spite of that, Jane’s Matcha not only grabbed people’s attention, but exploded in popularity among the people who lived in The Heights via word of mouth.
“I feel like we didn’t even do an amazing job marketing! It was just a lot of people that actually live in The Heights and they all shared with each other and then they would come every single Sunday. It became like a weekly routine for them,” Yang recalled.
Even Yang admits that some of her success was due to the right timing. As Jane’s Matcha was budding, matcha itself was hitting mainstream culture. “I think it lined up really nicely with how matcha is trending as a worldwide thing. But for me, I really wanted to keep it authentic and not trendy,” said Yang. ”We do flavors like strawberry and mango and we do lemonades, but nothing crazy like chasing a trend.” Yang’s love for matcha is evident in her commitment to making beverages that put that matcha flavor forward.
Even with all their success at the Market, their biggest and proudest achievement to date was opening their storefront. Here they offer their delicious matcha drinks, as well as an expanded menu of treats.
“We’ve been thinking about having a permanent home for a long time. It’s something I looked into for about two years now, but it also always felt like, ‘Are we actually going to really commit to it?’”
The store is heavily inspired by Japanese tea shops, as Yang had previously spent time in Japan to further develop her passion for matcha and teas. You can find her location at 93 Franklin Street here in The Heights.
As Jane’s Matcha moves to focus on their storefront, their last day at the Market was August 9. The Riverview Farmers Market team wants to wish them nothing but the best on this new adventure and we’re so excited to see what the future holds for them.
WELCOMING NEW VENDORS AT THE MARKET
Jane’s departure is leaving some big matcha cups to fill. As they move on to their new storefront, we’re thrilled to welcome Ritual House to the Market—bringing their own take on matcha to your Sunday mornings. Also featured at the Hamilton Park Farmers Market and the Cole Street Farmers Market, some of their menu highlights include:
- The Ritual: Matcha with milk of choice
- The Ritual Duo: Matcha Cold Foam with milk of choice
- The Vanilla Bean: Matcha, milk of choice, with salted vanilla bean syrup
- The Afterglow: Matcha with milk of choice, strawberry & cherry puree
- The Golden Hour: Matcha with milk of choice and miso maple syrup
In addition to Ritual House, we’re also excited to announce our new cheese vendor: Jersey Artisan Co. Rooted in Italian heritage, this vendor is committed to using locally sourced ingredients to make their cheese in their state-of-the-art facility in Whippany, NJ. Be sure to check their cafe, where alongside their excellent cheese, they serve a variety of other items, on 14 Burnham Rd, Morris Plains, in New Jersey!
13th Annual Peach Pie Contest
This past month, we also hosted our 13th annual Peach Pie Contest & Festival! A yearly event where amateur bakers from the community duke it out to see whose peach pie is the best (along with other entertainment and vendors).
Sponsored by Corcoran Sawyer Smith, this year’s Peach Pie Festival saw an outstanding turnout. Special vendors and activities included kicking off the day with QiGong with Erin Kumpf, live music from Dream Job and Sunnyboyy, face painting, and juggler Sean Blue.
In addition to entertainment, we also welcomed Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros and Mayor James Soloman to Peach Pie Fest. Mayor Soloman even officially designated August 2 as Peach Pie Day in Jersey City!
This year we had a record number of amateur bakers enter our Perfect Peach Pie Contest. With 25 entries the competition was fierce (and delightfully delicious)! You can check out a video of all the peach pies with their final rankings here.
Our judges panel included local talent such as Chef Matthew Moschella, Executive Chef and Co-founder of Corto; Chef Cedric Gayon, Founder & Head Chef of Five Tastes; Melanie Rubin, founder of the Jersey City Restaurant Owners Coalition; and Tina Rivera, founder of Baking Mama.
The final results landed Debra DeVenezia in third place; in second place came Katey Ghobrial; and finally, our first place winner, Sarah Simonson. Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest, volunteered to support this event, local businesses who donated prizes, and to everyone who came for the free pie samples, we hope you enjoyed it, as well!
upcoming events
- Fall Harvest Festival: September 20
- Day of the Dead Celebration & Parade: November 1
- Heights Holiday Market: December 5
