Yakult Prepares for Probiotic Growth with First U.S. Factory

In the United States, global probiotic beverage leader Yakult U.S.A. (Torrance, CA) only distributes its product in six U.S. states'”but major growth could be on the way.

This June, Yakult U.S.A. announced plans to build its first U.S. factory in Fountain Valley, California. The factory, expected to be up and running by 2012, will have the capacity to produce as many as 760,000 bottles of Yakult, daily.

Yakult contains an estimated 8 billion active cultures of Lactobacillus casei Shirota, the company...s patented probiotic strain intended for improved digestive and immune health. And since beginning U.S. sales three years ago, the company has seen enough consumer interest in its beverage to warrant building a permanent presence in the states.

'We are looking forward to the completion of the Yakult California Factory since it will allow us to provide our product to more and more people across the country,' said Yakult U.S.A vice president and COO Teruo Tabuchi. 'In the heart of Orange County, Fountain Valley is ideal because it is in close proximity to Los Angeles, which is our biggest market now.'

According to Yakult U.S.A, the company experienced a sales growth of 41% in 2009 over the previous year.

'Education about probiotics in the U.S. is so important,' said Tabuchi in an interview with Nutritional Outlook. 'We introduced Yakult to the market in 1935 in Japan; since then, we have been trying to educate people on the concept of probiotics. We hope to continue to educate Americans on the benefits of not only probiotics, but an overall healthy diet.'

Yakult is currently available at major super market chains in the following U.S. states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.

For more information, visit Yakult U.S.A.