Yakult Honsha Myanmar Company Limited introduces its locally produced fermented dairy products

Yakult Myanmar Company Limited is a $47 million investment by a Japanese company, and has introduced its locally produced fermented dairy products on July 31.

Yakult is a probiotic drink intended to improve health. Probiotics are live microorganisms intended to provide health benefits when consumed. Live probiotic cultures are part of fermented dairy products, other fermented foods, and probiotic-fortified foods.

Mr. Hideki Kawasaki, Managing Director of Yakult Myanmar Company Limited, claimed that a single bottle of Yakult, contains over 8 billion lactic acid bacteria which help improve bowel movements for people who tend to be constipated, and helps to maintain a healthy population of gut flora.

“This product is not a medicine. It is a product that improves bowel movements. We do not use coloring products or chemical preservatives,” he added.

The parent company for Yakult Myanmar Company Limited is Yakult Honsha. Yakult Honsha is based in Tokyo, Japan and started producing its flagship product in 1935, called Yakult.

Yakult Honsha is producing and selling its sweetened probiotic milk beverage to 40 million consumers in over 40 countries using raw materials from Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The Yakult factory in Myanmar will use those materials in the future if the company can import them, according to Mr. Hidekazu Yoshihira, General Manager of Production Division of Yakult Myanmar Company Limited.

Yakult Honsha’s average global sales of dairy products surpassed 39 million bottles per day in its Fiscal Year ending on March 31, 2018.

“We have plans to increase our investments and begin producing other products based on the market demand here,” Mr. Hideki Kawasaki said.

The drink will sell for K300 a bottle and will last 30 days. The company will employ a delivery system called Yakult ladies, which is aimed at providing jobs for women. Since 1963, Yakult has employed women known as "Yakult ladies” or "Yakult aunties" to sell or deliver the products to individuals at their homes while traveling on bicycles or motorcycles. The initiative was meant to utilize Japanese women in the workforce, and is responsible for up to 60 percent of all bottled Yakult sales.

The company said that it will expand its operations in Laos and Cambodia in ASEAN after its operations in Myanmar are established. Yakult Honsha also has an institute for doing research on probiotics with over 300 biologist.

(Myanmar Business Today: https://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/yakult-honsha-introduces-its-probiotics-myanmar )

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