Yakult has set out plans to boost its US production.
The Japan-based group has chosen the state of Georgia for its second manufacturing site in the country.
In 2022, Yakult more than doubled the sales of its probiotic beverages in the US on a unit basis.
The company plans to build the new site about 45 minutes north-west of Atlanta in Barcow County. At an estimated cost of $305m, the factory is scheduled to start production in 2026.
Yakult opened its first US production facility in California – where its local headquarters is based – in 2014. The group said the new plant would be the larger of the two sites.
“We believe that the new facility will be the main supplier for eastern and central US markets. We are pleased that we will provide more opportunities for our customers in the US with the opening of this new location,” Yutaka Misumi, the president and CEO of Yakult’s US subsidiary, said.
On average, Yakult sold 632,000 bottles of its drinks in the US in 2022, compared to 565,000 a year earlier. In 2020, the figure stood at 463,000 bottles, up from 378,000 bottles in 2019. The company started sales in the US in 1999.
Yakult’s financial year runs from the start of April to the end of March. In the 12 months to the end of March 2023, the company’s unit sales in the US “achieved double-digit growth”, president and representative director Hiroshi Narita said when the results were filed.
The group, which also has a presence in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics sectors, has seven plants across its business in Japan. It also has seven production sites in China.
Overall, annual net sales rose 29.7% to 483bn yen ($3.39bn) in the year to 31 March. Operating profit increased 5.3% to 66bn yen and net profit grew 4.3% to 50.6bn yen.
According to a business strategy up to 2030, Yakult has an overarching vision to become a “healthcare company”.
The company wants to become “a healthcare brand that responds to the health needs of people around the world”.
Yakult’s 2030 strategy highlights three areas: health and beauty; medical care and nutrition and “wellness and life support”.
