Japanese probiotic drinks manufacturer Yakult has revealed a plan to further expand in emerging markets including China, India and Brazil.
“As the population in Japan continues to shrink, we have to seek sales growth in emerging markets, where the economy and young populations are booming,” a Yakult spokesman told just-food.
Go deeper with GlobalData
China, where the company has been operating two plants in Shanghai and Guangzhou, is a particular target. On Wednesday (3 August), Yakult’s third plant in China, which cost US$31.8m to build, will start operation in a suburb of Tianjin, manufacturing Yakult probiotic drinks to sell in northern China.
“The daily production capacity will be 300,000 bottles initially, but later will boost to 1.46m bottles after new production lines are installed,” the spokesman said.
In the southern city of Guangzhou, Yakult is planning to build a second regional plant but details have yet to be disclosed.
Meanwhile, to reach consumers in inland China, Yakult is also planning to set up eight sales offices in cities such as Chengdu in Sichuan province, Xi’an of Shan’xi province and Kunming in Yunnan province.
