The sixth floor of the Zeno Food Imports headquarters, located in Tokyo's Marunouchi district, still had its fluorescent lights blazing even in the late afternoon. Since the company was one where overtime was already a way of life, it wasn't unusual to see Department Manager Sato Takeshi poring over documents, lost in thought.
However, what he was staring at with such piercing focus was the previous season's sales data for Royal Taioga cherries at the Ginza Matsuya department store.
For Tokyo's wealthy class, the annual arrival of American cherries every May had already transformed from something special into something expected. In particular, Royal Taiogas had become a status symbol precisely because of their exorbitant price, to the point where including cherries in children's lunch boxes was becoming a trend.
The problem was that the high price came with limited supply, and the Zeno Group was demanding greater quantities from Sato Takeshi.
That morning, the call from the headquarters general manager had been exactly to that effect.
[Department Manager Sato. Bring back double this season.]
Double. An impossible demand, but one he had to meet.
Sato set the documents down on his desk, adjusted his glasses, and looked up at the ceiling. He recalled when he had first seen Royal Taioga cherries at Harris Farm. That petite woman standing before the hydro cooler trailer, delivering a briefing without hesitation—Chloe Harris. He could still vividly picture her audacity, dressed in a white blouse and glasses, shoving data in his face and extracting a 30 percent premium.
He was at a loss as to how to persuade the woman who was effectively the Cherry Queen of California, but regardless, he had to pull it off.
"I'm going mad, absolutely mad..."
He clawed at his hair, gathered his documents, and headed for the airport. The flight to Brentwood didn't land in San Francisco until the following afternoon.
After renting a car and heading east on Highway 160, the April expanse of the California plains unfolded outside his window. Grapes, oranges, and all those abundant fruits only made it more regrettable that there were so few of the Royal Taiogas he sought among them.
Passing through the front gate of Harris Farm, vast cherry orchards spread out before him. With the harvest imminent, the countless cherries hanging from each tree refreshed his eyes. A few workers were walking between the trees, inspecting the fruit, and in the distance, someone was checking something beside the hydro cooler trailer.
"It's been a while, Department Manager Sato. You needn't have come all this way; you could have just called."
Chloe greeted him in front of the farm office. Unlike four years ago, she wasn't dressed up today. In a waterproof jacket, jeans, and a walkie-talkie at her hip, she looked every bit the farmer. But her gaze was as sharp as ever.
"Not at all. I thought it only right to come in person."
Sato bowed politely. Chloe guided him inside the office.
Two cups of coffee were placed on the table, and Chloe sat across from him, cradling her cup as she waited for Sato to speak.
"Coming in April makes for a completely different sight."
"Pardon?"
"The first time I visited this farm was in winter. The trees were all bare then, so honestly, I couldn't believe cherries actually came from here."
Chloe laughed.
"That's right. Everyone who comes for the first time in winter says the same thing. But looking at the trees now, can you imagine what they'll be like in a month?"
"Very much so. By the way, Chloe, word of last year's pear harvest even reached Japan. I heard there was quite an uproar at Bristol Park."
"Oh my, it reached that far?"
"Working in food imports, these things tend to reach my ears naturally. Is it true that the new variety pears were that large and had such high sugar content?"
"Yes, Brian is exceptionally precise with water regulation. Even I wondered if it was possible at first, but when I checked the refractometer, I was shocked."
"A story to be envious of."
Sato's expression showed genuine admiration.
"But isn't it difficult running both a cherry farm and a pear farm simultaneously? The crops are different, and the harvest seasons must differ as well."
"It is hard. Spring is hectic because of the cherries, and once summer approaches, the pear worries begin. You need separate labor, separate equipment. But on the flip side, it's nice that the harvest seasons don't overlap. When one side is at its peak, the other can take a breather."
"So it works as risk diversification, then."
"Exactly. When the cherries suffered severe frost damage once before, the pears held us up, and when the pears struggled under a heatwave, cherry season had al-
ready passed by then."
"A well-designed farm. Did you start the pear farm with that in mind from the beginning?"
"You could say that."
Sato nodded, then slowly broached the main subject.
"How is the cherry crop this year? From what I saw, the condition looks good."
"Better than last year. We had a light frost in winter, but we'd prepared in advance. Judging by how quickly the sugar content is rising, this year's Royal Taiogas should have higher Brix than last year."
Sato's eyes changed at this. Chloe noticed and slowly set down her coffee cup.
"That reminds me, Chloe... I'll be direct."
"Please do."
"Headquarters has ordered me to double the volume of Royal Taiogas for this season."
Despite the shocking news, Chloe didn't so much as blink, lifting her cup for another sip. Sato watched her reaction as he continued.
"As you've likely heard, this year's response at Ginza Matsuya... far exceeded expectations. Zeno must maintain this momentum into next year."
"Double?"
"Yes."
A brief silence passed. Chloe glanced out the window at the cherry orchard, then turned her gaze back to Sato.
"Department Manager Sato, you know how old the cherry trees at our farm are, don't you?"
"Of course I do."
"It takes a minimum of four years from planting Royal Taioga seedlings to the first normal harvest. Even if we planted right now, it would mean nothing for next season. And the quality of our cherries comes from precisely controlling water stress tree by tree using the SWP method. Simply increasing the number of trees won't produce the same quality. I'm sure you're aware of that, Manager Sato."
Sato nodded. Chloe was right. There was no room for argument. Which only made things more difficult.
"Then..."
"However...!"
Sato's eyes lit up instantly. A conditional clause from Chloe meant there was room for negotiation.
"What is it...?"
"What do you think about almond milk?"
Sato's brow furrowed slightly. Not because he was offended, but because he couldn't understand where this was going.
"Almond milk?"
"My father and older brother run an almond farm, and they operate an almond milk factory as well."
Only then did Sato Takeshi understand what she was getting at. She wanted some kind of package deal... At this, Sato's back, which had been bent in deference, straightened slightly.
"You wish to supply almond milk to Japan?"
"Exactly."
Her father's almond milk, 'Fredericks Harvest,' was selling fairly well at Bristol Market. These days she couldn't stop talking about it, but that wasn't because it was a massive hit.
While Fredericks Harvest was indeed selling steadily, Bristol Farms didn't have that many locations, and it was struggling at Walmart against competing products.
Undoubtedly, it had high almond content, and when tasted in comparison, its overwhelming nuttiness was apparent. But above all, it was losing out on price competitiveness. Because of this, despite steady sales, a considerable amount of inventory was still piled up in the warehouse.
Of course, even this was generating profits unavailable through farm operations alone, and sales were trending upward gradually from a long-term perspective, so it was absolutely not a cause for concern. Chloe simply wanted to help her father's factory operations if she could.
Sato rolled the words "almond milk" around in his mind for a moment.
In the Japanese market, almond milk occupied an ambiguous category—it existed, yet it didn't. With soy milk effectively monopolizing the plant-based milk market, consumers seeking almond milk were extremely few. However, having been in the food business for a long time, he had sensed that demand was slowly growing among health-conscious young people.
The question was whether this could constitute an immediate reportable achievement to the Zeno general manager.
"Chloe, may I be frank?"
"Of course."
"Am I correct in understanding that the proposal to bring almond milk to Japan is conditional on the Royal Taioga volume?"
"That's right."
Her exceedingly candid answer made Sato tense for no good reason. If his opponent was coming at him this directly, then in the end he stood at a crossroads with only two options: accept or refuse.
Chloe shrugged and continued.
"Don't think of it as too burdensome. I'll understand if you say no."
"Ahem... what is the product name?"
"Fredericks Harvest. It's named directly after my father."
"What is the almond content?"
"It's more than double that of typical products. You'll notice the difference immediately when you taste it. If you want more precise nutritional information, send me an email and I'll reply officially. For now, let's start with the taste."
Chloe stood up and opened the refrigerator. Inside were several small bottles with milky-white packaging. She took one out, poured it into a cup, and offered it to Sato.
Sato lifted the cup and took a sip. A nutty richness enveloped his tongue first. The density was unlike any almond milk he had tasted before. Rather than a watery, diluted taste, a heavy, robust flavor that felt as if raw almonds had been ground directly into it lingered down the back of his throat.
"Oho... it certainly is different."
"Right?"
Sato set down the cup and organized his thoughts. Bringing in almond milk together wasn't necessarily a losing proposition. He even thought that they might be able to pioneer another market for the wealthy with a category of almond milk that hadn't existed before.
The issue was, as expected, the volume.
"Chloe, let me ask this directly. If Zeno brings the almond milk to Japan, to what extent do you believe Royal Taioga volume would be possible?"
"First, I'm sure you know that Zeno isn't the only one who wants our cherries."
Sato's expression subtly stiffened. Even without her saying it, he could guess she was referring to Itochu.
"So double is impossible. However... if you take the almond milk as well, I can give Zeno priority on an increased volume over last year. You'd be able to secure shipment ahead of Itochu. However, the almond milk contract must be finalized within this month."
Sato was silent for a moment. It was a structure where almond milk served as bait to secure priority cherry shipping rights. While it wasn't double, getting ahead of Itochu held sufficient merit when considering the first-mover advantage in the market. As proven last year at Ginza Matsuya, the buzz generated by selling out on the first day carried value beyond mere volume.
"Very well. Since I must negotiate specific details regarding how much almond milk to take and the cherry volume with headquarters, please give me one more day."
"Do that. I'm in no hurry."
Chloe's relaxed attitude made Sato feel needlessly rushed. He knew that her composure stemmed from the confidence that not a single cherry would remain on the farm once May had passed.
After Sato Takeshi departed, Chloe returned to the farm as if nothing had happened.
It was a vast cherry orchard that required another twenty minutes of driving from the farm office to reach. Not the original Harris Farm, but the 200-acre cherry orchard she had additionally secured during the frost damage period.
The endlessly wide expanse inspired less pride than overwhelm. It couldn't be helped. Over a hundred people were currently lined up densely throughout the farm, performing grafting work.
"Chloe! Block C is done! We need to start on Block D now!"
Engrossed in the work of replacing one-third of the 200 acres with Royal Taioga and Coral Champagne varieties, the successful meeting from moments ago had inevitably already vanished from her mind.
"I'm here! You know you can't slack off, right? I'll inspect everything! Joseph! Are you going to work that slowly?"
Pressing down the brim of her long-billed hat to shield herself from the sun, Chloe walked into the field. Though she hurled a storm of nagging, the workers, knowing her generous nature, smiled and moved their hands faster, aware that a substantial bonus awaited them when the work was done.
And from afar, several key members of the Cherry Growers Cooperative watched this scene unfold.