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 and is ready to start her career off in Tokyo. Sachika finished a summer internship in a government relations consulting and has now jumped into Meros projects, including supporting a client register a Japanese product under the organic materials certification system in the US, kick off a new project on plant breeder rights for the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and visit a variety of Tokyo spirits shops to documents the current range of whiskeys and gins available in Japan for an EU client..

Our team loves her curiosity about both global markets and food systems and the environment – the perfect mix for success at Meros. “When I first came across Meros’ website I instantly became interested specifically at how diverse the case studies were.  What drew me to reach out and apply for the internship position was because I felt like my science background, and interest in international affairs could be engaged and challenged through this experience.”

“Because I majored in physiology at university and took a minor in Earth Science, I had studied issues involved peripherally with food and agriculture. Specifically, I looked at food and nutrition in relation to human health along with soil science and challenges facing the agricultural sector due to climate change. The global food chain and ecosystem has been getting heightened media coverage, and I felt that working at Meros would be a valuable experience to not only learn new concepts, but also tangible skills.”

“Within the very first week I realized just how much change and innovation is occurring within the food and agriculture sector. I am excited to learn more about such diverse and various topics during my time at Meros, including regulations and policies of different governments surrounding the food and agriculture especially as it relates to new and emerging agrifood technologies.”

In addition to our ongoing Meros projects Sachika plans to use her independent research project on the Japanese apple value chain to dig deeper into topics of particular interest.

“I hope to be involved in projects related to soil science and am looking forward to understanding the different processes involved in the production of apples, through my independent project. I hope to answer or partially answer a question I have had ever since I was young, traveling between Japan and Australia – Why is fruit in Japan more expensive?  I plan to look at the journey of apples from the farm to retail and where in the chain there may be potential for a decrease in food waste and greater efficiency.”

“I’m curious about delving into the complex and intriguing world of food and agriculture and discovering just how intertwined it is with all industries. Already during these first few weeks at Meros I have realized that it’s so much more complex than I had thought!”

Sachika has a busy fall planned. “Outside of work, I enjoy reading, watching travel vlogs and café-hopping around Tokyo. I hope to explore more of Japan, especially the Kanto region around Tokyo and the northern Tohoku regions, which I have never had much of a chance to visit.”

Meros has a new team member! Welcome, Daijiro Hata! Daijiro joined us this summer and is already jumping into projects, visiting expos and attending farms demos in his home prefecture of Shiga.

Daijiro has a degree in Natural Sciences from Kyoto University and spent an additional year at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico studying agriculture.

His career has spanned diverse roles, allowing him to gain deep experience in both corporate and international development work. Before Meros he worked for development consulting company Padeco on international development projects, particularly in the Philippines. Previously in his career, he had been involved in global business development for agricultural non-woven fabric, including on-site demos to explore market entry potential in Indonesia, market research in Spain and was responsible for trade and export management with European customers, including optimizing route and vessel plans.

The common theme has always been international business development, trade and new markets and Meros was a chance for him to return to his core passion – food and agriculture.

“I have had a deep interest in food and agriculture since childhood. Even in elementary school, I loved growing vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes in our garden during summer vacation. I think this deeply inspired me and I studied biology and agriculture in university. I have been developing my career in business development both in Japan and overseas, but my core interest has always been in food and agriculture.

“Meros is the ideal environment for me to develop deeper expertise in food and agriculture and put my experiences in new business development, trade and market research to use on a variety of exciting topics.”

“I was really excited to see that Meros’ work covers the entire agriculture supply chain in a international context, and I felt I could both pursue my passion in agriculture and also contribute the perspectives I have gained through my previous career experiences.”

Since joining Meros, Daijiro has already been putting his experience to use by becoming involved in our work in Colombia on rice industry development policy and investigating opportunities for new business and agri-tech start-up collaboration in key global agriculture sectors.

“I have experience working on JICA projects and I know I can contribute to Meros’ work with JICA and with other international agencies on international agricultural development challenges. In addition I hope I will be able to use my Spanish language skills in projects in Latin America where I can dig into local documents and interview local experts. Through Meros’ training program and support from my Team Meros colleagues, I am quickly learning new systematic research and analytical skills, and I plan to apply these skills to solving our clients’ challenges.”

Daijiro is extremely curious about new foods and cuisine and is always eager to try new restaurants with the team – something that is a challenge only when he is preparing for high-level competitions in weight training and body building – an inspiration to our team!

He is fluent in Japanese, English and Spanish.