Meros

Come join Meros at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, Singapore, October 31- Nov 2, 2023

We are incredibly pleased to be partnering with the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore, to be held October 31 – Nov 2, 2023. Our goal is help bring more perspectives and voices from Japan’s food and agriculture innovation scene into the lively debates in Singapore.

Join us there! We’ll be happy to introduce you to people we know or navigate all the events going on.

Meros has been attending this event every year since it started. It has become one of our favorite events in the region, because unlike a basic conference or expo, this summit emphasizes learning, debating and presenting on solutions to the most pressing issues facing our industry. It is a chance to ask questions. A chance to connect with potential partners. A chance to hear from the world’s leading agribusinesses, food brands, growers, entrepreneurs, and investors to discuss how technology and investment can be targeted to have the greatest impact on the agri-food value chain in the Asia-Pacific region.

We have seen a growing number of Japanese companies attending the Summit in the last few years. But we still feel there are so many perspectives and experiences from Japan’s agri-food and technology scenes that would valuable additions to the debates, from Japanese food industry innovations to seaweed farming and aquaculture to biostimulants and soil health.

This year’s event will cover agri-food tech, indoor agriculture and blue economy (aquaculture and ocean-based businesses). Key topics for 2023 include:

Decarbonisation: Carbon Footprint, Carbon Markets and Climate Mitigation in Agriculture
Food Security: Addressing Supply Chain Disruptions and Building Resilience
Digital Transformation: De-Risking Smallholder Farming with Agri-Tech and Agri-Fintech
Soil Health: Ensuring a Stable Supply of Biological Crop Protection and Nutrition
CEA Resource Efficiency: Driving Technology and Policy Innovation for Energy Resilience
Indoor Farming Genetics: Expanding the Supply Chain for Genetically Optimised Seeds
Nutrition and Health: Health Aging, Clean-Label, and the Gut-Brain Axis
Future of Proteins in Asia: Animal,Plant-Based, Microbial & Cell-Based Proteins
Blue Food Production: Accelerating Digitisation and Circular Systems in Aquaculture
Scale-Up Finance: New Investment Models Supporting Agri-Tech and Food-Tech
Strategic Partnerships: Building Bridges for a Food-Secure and Crisis-Proof Food System
Ecosystem Building: Connecting the Dots across the Asia-Pacific Region

The Summit offers many events occurring simultaneously, so it works for different people’s topics of interest and networking styles. There are panels and discussions led by thought-leaders and industry experts, who give real world examples and cutting-edge insights on technologies, trends and recent business successes and failures.

But the Summit also consciously engineers many opportunities for spontaneous meetings with new people – networking events, small round table discussions, 1-to-1 networking spaces, bottomless coffee, start-ups pitch events and lunches featuring new food products from attending start-ups and companies. It makes it easy to strike up conversations with new people, from start-ups, food brands and agribusinesses, investors and R&D departments.

Why Singapore? Singapore is rapidly becoming the APAC hub of the agrifood innovation eco-system, spurred by the Singapore government’s ambitious “30 by 30” vision, which aims for 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs to be produced locally by 2030, up from less than 10% today. But Singapore is also creating a supportive environment for entrepreneurship and innovation in the space (Meros has been blow away by the start-ups we have met and mentored through the GROW accelerator program in Singapore.) And the city’s access to regional markets makes it an attractive launchpad for new business in the region. In short, Singapore is where many of the most influential discussions and product launches are being made today.

Join us!

Use our code MEROS10 for an extra 10% off or get in touch with us to learn more about how this dynamic event works.

25 Aug

Meros welcomes Daijiro Hata as our newest full-time research analyst!

Posted by Lucia Vancura in News

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.

28 Feb

“Increasing Investments in Natural Capital” – Launch event of the new 2023 J-IIN Natural Capital Webinar Series (March 9, 2023)

Posted by Team Meros in News

We are pleased to announce a new 2023 webinar series from the Japan Impact Investment Network (J-IIN) around the theme of Natural Capital. The series will have five events, each with experienced international practitioners and time for discussion.

The first session, “Increasing Investments in Natural Capital”, will be held on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 18:00 JST. Lauren Ferstandig, Managing Director of Nature Vest, the in-house impact investment team at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), will lead an online discussion on the topic of natural capital and the issues and concerns around investment in natural capital

Join us to explore practical issues such as the role of impact investment and technology, as well as investment opportunities available in this field.

As a leading conservation organization founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) currently works in 76 countries to protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity. Nature Vest has been mobilizing private sector funds since its establishment in 2014 and has a strong track record as an impact investor.

The J-IIN Natural Capital Webinar Series will continue into the summer with four more events. We will be inviting investors, companies, and others to further explore the challenges and opportunities in the areas of biodiversity, forestland, oceans, crop and pastureland.

May 2023 Investing in biodiversity and its current challenges, solutions and possibilities

June 2023: Challenges and investment opportunities in forest land
July 2023: Issues and investment potential in the ocean businesses and the growing Blue Economy
September 2023: Issues and business potential in crop and pasturelands

Don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity to expand your knowledge and network.
If you are interested in our events or have questions, please contact us at inquiries@merosconsulting.com.

About J-IIN
Japan Impact Investment Network (J-IIN) focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and investors to build impactful, scalable business beyond Japan. Meros is a founding member of J-IIN.

J-IIN was created as a forum for entrepreneurs, investors and supporters of global business with impact to communicate frankly, exploring how global and domestic issues intersect.

Internationally, food and agriculture has attracted the most impact investment attention, but is a sector that has received much less attention in Japan. Meros works with our J-IIN colleagues to raise awareness of global trends in impact investment and business in agriculture and food in Japan and globally.