Production of the probiotic milk drink Yakult for the European market at the Almere site
Yakult Europe B.V.
Almere (NL) · Ghent (BE, Research)New on Amplifa
About Yakult Europe
Yakult Europe B.V. is the European subsidiary of the Japanese company Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. and has been producing the probiotic milk drink Yakult in Almere (Netherlands) since 1994. The drink is based on water, skimmed milk, sugar or sweeteners, and the lactic acid bacterium strain Lactobacillus casei Shirota, which was developed in 1935 by the Japanese physician and scientist Minoru Shirota. The plant in Almere is the central production site for Europe with a capacity of around 10 million bottles per week and supplies countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Italy, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The product range in Europe includes Yakult Original, Yakult Light and Yakult Plus with vitamin C. Research into gut health is conducted at the Yakult Central Institute in Tokyo as well as at the Yakult Honsha European Research Center in Ghent, Belgium.
- Site
- EN Almere
- Materials
- Fermented milk drink
- Founded
- 1955
- Industries
- Food, Probiotic milk drinks, Cosmetics, Pharmaceuticals (mainly Asia)
- 01
Milk and ingredient procurement
- 02
Fermentation with L. casei Shirota
- 03
Bottling into bottles
- 04
Refrigerated storage
- 05
Distribution to food retail
Products and Ingredients
Fermented milk drink
Base: water, skimmed milk, sugar or sweeteners, flavouring and Lactobacillus casei Shirota.
Sites
Almere
NLProduction / European headquarters
- Materials
- Fermented milk drinks
Products
Inside the production
Industries
History
- 1935
Minoru Shirota develops the Yakult drink and introduces it to the Japanese market
- 1938
Yakult registered as a trademark
- 1955
Foundation of Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. and of the Yakult Central Institute
- 1964
Expansion into other Asian countries (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore)
- 1970
Yakult becomes owner of the baseball team Tōkyō Yakult Swallows
- 1971
Start of cosmetics production
- 1975
Market launch of first pharmaceuticals
- 1994
First Yakult production in Almere, Netherlands, for the European market
- 1996
Market launch in Germany
- 2000
Establishment in 9 European countries completed
- 2002
Opening of production facilities and branches in China
- 2005
Market launch in Austria; foundation of the Yakult Honsha European Research Center in Ghent, Belgium
- 2007
Sales launch in the USA