Founded 1990 | Parent organization Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. | |
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Yakult U.S.A. Inc. is an American subsidiary of the Japanese probiotics pioneer Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacturing, importation, distribution and sales of Yakult in the United States of America. Yakult U.S.A Inc. is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California where its factory manufactures its product. Yakult is a probiotic dairy drink made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a proprietary strain of bacterium named Lactobacillus casei Shirota.
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History
Yakult was established in Japan in 1935, when Dr. Minoru Shirota, a Japanese microbiologist, cultured the unique Lactobacillus casei strain and began distributing it within a flavorful dairy drink. As an affordable form of preventative medicine, the product grew in popularity and became distributed in over 30 countries.
US Manufacturing
Yakult opened a factory in the United States to meet demands for the product in North America. In June 2010, the company selected Fountain Valley, California as the location for its first U.S factory. Fountain Valley was selected due to its proximity to Los Angeles, one of Yakult’s largest US markets.
In May 2014, Yakult U.S.A. Inc.’s California factory began producing Yakult. Prior to its opening, the Yakult plant in Guadalajara, Mexico supplied much of the US Yakult distribution. The Fountain Valley, CA factory is set to take over supply to the United States as well as the rest of North America. The plant sits on approximately 8.89 acres with a 63,500 square foot building. The plant is capable of producing 400,000 bottles of the probiotic dairy beverage per day.
Product
Yakult is a fermented dairy probiotic drink made from Yakult’s proprietary probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus casei Shirota. As a probiotic, Yakult works to maintain digestive health by balancing the good and bad bacteria in the gut through maintenance of gut flora, modulation of the immune system and regulation of bowel movements and constipation. Studies conducted on the product have found that the drink may help control insulin resistance.