Meros Consulting

21/01/2025

It's 2025! We are back and diving into the year - and looking forward to the upcoming Year of the Snake. This Year symbolizes renewal and adaptation as well as agility and flexibility. Sounds just right for us~!

We look forward to continuing to support our wonderful clients and partners around the world and to enable business innovations, technology and entrepreneurship to thrive in the food, agriculture and oceans space. Let's do this!

14/04/2024

Meros is thrilled to welcome Sachika Onaka Adcock as a full-time research analyst!

Our team has been extremely impressed with her work so far exploring food loss in the apple value chain in Japan, investigating global schemes for protecting plant breeder rights and successfully supporting a Japanese company register for organic OMRI labeling in the US. She is now just back from a whirlwind field research trip in Southeast Asia with lots of stories to share.

Her unwavering enthusiasm and curiosity is infectious and we are so pleased to have her on our team.

Meros is thrilled to welcome Sachika Onaka Adcock as a full-time research analyst! Sachika originally joined our team as a full-time intern in fall of 2023. Her background and interest in global markets and food systems and environmental science were the perfect mix for success at Meros.

12/02/2024

Wishing all our partners, clients and friends a prosperous and opportunity-filled Year of the Dragon as we we enjoy the Lunar New Year season throughout Asia!

21/12/2023

As 2023 draws to an end, three major foodtech topics Meros followed this year: the growing interest in circular economy, sustainability and Japan’s emerging cultivated meat sector, were all still front and center at the annual Foodtech Japan, Drink Japan and the Smart Restaurant EXPO. Here are some of the key take-aways observed by Meros' own Sachika Onaka Adcock.

As 2023 draws to an end, three major foodtech topics Meros followed this year: the growing interest in circular economy, sustainability and Japan’s emerging cultivated meat sector, were all still front and center at the annual Foodtech Japan, Drink Japan and the Smart Restaurant EXPO at Tokyo Big ...

04/12/2023

The first stage of our field trials of slurry ice efficacy on fish freshness in Phu Quoc Vietnam have started! The slurry ice is packed in special ( mint green!) boxes from Japan that maintain temperature. The fish are tested everyday with a special gadget that electrically measures changes in tissue conditions. The fishers, Vietnamese port managers and our Japanese colleagues are working together on all this.

03/12/2023

As promised, here are some updates from our field (sea?) trial this week at the port in Phu Quoc, Vietnam! One aspect of the trial is to introduce a slurry ice machine from Yamaguchi Prefecture that can be used by the fishers at the port. Here we see the slurry machine installed. (Note the blue tent on top where a security guard sleeps to insure no damage to the machines!) Without ice, fishers must sell fish within 24 hours of landing before they spoil. With slurry ice, the fish can stay fresh for up to a week, giving the fishers far more negotiation power in the price and timing for selling their fish. Our colleague Hiroki Seki is on the boat and ready to go!

28/11/2023

After long planning, and delayed by a pandemic, we are finally starting our pilot trials in Phu Quoc port Vietnam this week of Japanese ice slurry machines to improve fish freshness and hopefully raise incomes of fishers and reduce seafood loss. Yesterday's morning view of the bay bode well. Our colleague Hiroki Seki is on the ground in Phu Quoc helping with the trials and we'll post updates thru the week.

29/09/2023

Meros is so excited to welcome our new fall research analyst, Sachika Onaka Adcock! She is already working with us on projects ranging from US certification for organic materials to the Japanese whiskey and gin market. She'll also be working on independent research on food loss within the Japanese apple value chain and its impact on costs and efficiency. Read more about Sachika here:

https://merosconsulting.com/a-festive-welcome-to-our-new-fall-research-assistant-sachika-onaka-adcock/

A big welcome to our newest full-time fall research assistant, Sachika Onaka Adcock! Sachika is a recent graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia where she studied Physiology and Earth Sciences. Sachika spent her childhood between Australia and Himeji in the western area of Japan

28/09/2023

(Japanese follows)

The fifth session of the Natural Capital Webinar Series by Japan Impact Investing Network (J-IIN) will be held on Friday, October 13th, starting at 17:30 (Japan time). This time, under the title "Possibilities and Challenges of Business and Investment Related to Farmland," we will discuss the possibilities of business and impact investment related to natural capital and agriculture, including perspectives from the field. As you are all aware, the impact of agriculture on natural capital is significant. At the same time, globally, investments aimed at regenerating natural capital through the effective use of farmland are increasing.

We are inviting several practitioners from Europe to discuss their experiences. Our guests will be Richard Jacobs who is in charge of farmland investment at Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management that aims to restore natural capital through farmland investment and Andrea Michelli, partner at Trifolium Farms, a company that recycles and manages farmland using renewable farming methods on behalf of funds in Europe. Moderated by Lucia Vancura and Chisa Ogura, our panel will discuss the role of institutional investors in natural capital restoration on farmland, and will give a case study of a project they are working on within the Europe credit system for soil carbon capture, as well as a practical example of regenerative farming operations.

Please feel free to invite your colleagues and register through the link below by October 8th. For those who did not participate last time, we look forward to your participation this time!

Register here!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85600325135?pwd=ejQ0YTMxU3BaMW8yaExLY1AralNyUT09

Japan Impact Investing Network (J-IIN) 自然資本ウェビナーシリーズ第5回目を、来たる10月13日(金)　17:30（日本時間）スタートの予定で開催させていただきます。今回は“農地関連のビジネス・投資の可能性と課題”と題して、現場の視点を交えながら、この分野における自然資本に関わるビジネス・インパクト投資の可能性について話し合います。ご案内のように、自然資本に対する農業の影響は甚大なものがあり、食糧生産確保との両立という課題に直面しています。一方で、世界的に見ても、農地の有効活用を通じ、自然資本再生を目指す投資が拡大していることも事実です。

そこで今回は、ヨーロッパを中心に、農地投資を通じた自然資本再生を目指す投資銀行Van Lanschot Kempenから、農地投資を担当するRichard Jacobs氏と、欧州でファンドから委託を受けて再生可能な農法で農地を再生＆経営する企業 Trifolium FarmsのパートナーAndrea Michelli氏をお招きします。モデレーターはJ-IINのLucia Vancura、Chisa Oguraが務めさせて頂きます。農地における自然資本再生に機関投資家が果たす役割に加え、欧州での土壌炭素蓄積のクレジット制度化に向けて実際に関わっていらっしゃるプロジェクトのケーススタディ、また再生農業の実際の運用現場の様子をお伺いします。

ご同僚もお誘い合わせの上、以下のリンクより10月8日までにご登録をお願いいたします。また、前回ご参加されなかった方々も、是非今回よりのご参加をお待ちいたします。

Zoom Meeting Registration Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85600325135?pwd=ejQ0YTMxU3BaMW8yaExLY1AralNyUT09

14/09/2023

We are so pleased to be partnering this year with the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore! Join us and be part of the conversation with 1000+ inspiring people working in , and innovation throughout APAC (and beyond!).

This event is so much more than a conference or expo...it is chance to connect with decision-makers and industry leaders who present cutting edge ideas and offer actionable insights. It is an event about finding and debating solutions to the most pressing issues in our industry over networking opportunities, bottomless coffees and round table discussions, as well as panel discussions and debates.

We have never missed this event because of the new connections we make - the event is made for spontaneous conversations and easy introductions. Check out this year's key themes for discussion:

https://agrifoodinnovation.com/about/?utm_source=Meros&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=meros-about

Join us! Use our code MEROS10 for an extra 10% off!

Find out more about the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, a globally renowned networking and thought-leadership conference

08/09/2023

Meros will be busy attending some of the most exciting events in the region this season, including Seafood Expo Asia and the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, both in Singapore. We'd love to connect with others interested in innovation, sustainability and business growth in food, agriculture and ocean-related businesses. Let us know if you’ll be at any of these events!

06/09/2023

One key factor to increase incomes in the Vietnamese fishing industry and reduce waste is to improve the cold chain and insure fresher fish along the supply chain. Meros senior analyst Hiroki Seki is just back from three weeks in Vietnam supporting a pilot project to bring Japanese cold chain technologies to the fishing port at Phu Quoc, Vietnam. Our mission this time? To determine how strong the market demand really is for fresher fish and from what end users. Ultimately, the success and sustainability of this pilot will hinge on whether profits rise and fresher, premium fish can connect with the right end users. Read more in our latest blog!

https://merosconsulting.com/improving-seafood-freshness-at-the-port-markets-of-phu-quoc-vietnam-with-japanese-seafood-technology-pilot/

(Above, fishing boats crowd the port at Phu Quoc) For three weeks in July and August, Meros senior analyst Hiroki Seki dove into the Vietnamese seafood industry, moving from Phu Quoc Island, the largest island in Vietnam and a part of Kien Giang province, to Rach Gia, the capital city of Kien Gia