British-Japanese chef provides at-home cooking services

With 41% of expats experiencing digestive health issues, such as weight change, in their new country of residence according to a 2024 survey by financial services company Allianz, nutritionist and personal chef Dan Martin is on a mission to support the health and well-being of the international community in Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa.

Through his company Sankaku Nutrition, the British-Japanese entrepreneur provides in-home meal preparation services and consultations to busy professionals, drawing on his degree in nutrition from the University of Nottingham, and his time as a chef in England, Austria and Japan.

Now Martin is embarking on a new aspect to his business: the creation of an online community united by an interest in nutrition.

What inspired you to establish Sankaku Nutrition?

I met my wife in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. I was working as a chef but I knew there was more to me and wanted to provide my family with something more. I decided Tokyo would be a good place to grow a business and that international residents would be a good target market. Lots of expats find it challenging to eat healthily in their new home, largely due to unfamiliarity with local ingredients and lack of knowledge about how to cook with them, or perhaps due to specific dietary needs. My purpose is to help them and I love what I do.

How does your service work?

After an inquiry, I start with a discovery call, where the client explains their situation and I’ll see if I can meet their needs. If they are happy with the prices, I’ll suggest going to visit their home to see if they have the space and equipment I would need for cooking. If they become a customer, on each visit, I prepare about five meals, typically a main and two sides, totaling 20 portions. I do meal planning beforehand — and often grocery shopping — and then cook for about six hours in their home and clean up at the end.

What sort of clients do you have?

Most are vegetarian. I think it became that way because it’s hard to be a vegetarian in Japan. As a child, when I visited my grandmother in rural Gifu Prefecture, that wasn’t my experience but in the big cities, I see a lot of emphasis on meat now. Even dishes that would normally be vegetarian tend to have a bit of ground meat or bacon in them. Dashi or consume stock is also often used and it contains fish or chicken.

What’s the most enjoyable part of your work?

Working so closely with people; I become almost a member of the family and I see people thrive. Creating those personal relationships makes the world seem positive. And, unlike in my previous roles as a chef, I get to make and create new recipes and menus every day. I’ve developed as a recipe creator more than I would have were I working in a restaurant.

And the most challenging?

It’s hard work. If my day includes grocery shopping for customers, I typically walk 7–8 km, and I carry up to 20 kg of supplies and equipment to and from the client’s home. But it’s not a bad challenge and it keeps me really fit. The most difficult thing is probably balancing everything: my day-to-day work, keeping the business healthy and spending time with my family. Thankfully, I often finish early so I can see my kids.

Why is your next step to go online?

I’m proud of what I do with my clients and I know it has an impact on them and their children. There is also a butterfly effect — if I help someone in healthcare to work better, they can help more people. But I want to have a bigger reach so I plan to go completely digital within five years. There’s also a financial factor; if I can’t be physically present at work, I can’t make any money, which is a risk as I’m the sole provider to my family. I’d like to create something that doesn’t require me to be present all the time.

What will you offer?

I’m starting a YouTube channel first. The idea is to share simple ways to make healthy meals and explain nutrition in a way that makes sense. When we get a good group or audience going I hope to bring people together into an online communication app or platform, perhaps on Discord. That way, we can figure out together what people really need, whether it’s full courses, apps, special programs, or even just recipe books. I’m open to whatever works best to help people out the most.

What are your thoughts as you embark on this project?

I’ve already outlined the first few videos and I am working to get everything sorted; there’s a lot that goes behind the scenes of making YouTube content that I didn’t realize before. As an entrepreneur, you can have an idea of what you want to do but it’s not necessarily the best thing. I’ve got to start moving forward and build on people’s reactions. It’ll be a big learning curve but social media encourages you to continue improving.

© Japan Today