Dive Brief:
- Yakult has opened a 76,800 square foot facility in Fountain Valley, CA, where it will manufacture its probiotic drink brand.
- The plant opening represents a substantial shift in how the Japanese company approaches the Western market. Yakult had been making drinks in Mexico and importing them to the U.S., but growth in the United States now requires a dedicated supply base.
- Sales in the U.S. rose 112.6% in 2013 from a year earlier, to 182,000 bottles a day.
Dive Insight:
The news of Yakult's new plant comes just days after Lifeway Foods, maker of Kefir, the dominant player in the drinkable probiotics business in the U.S., said its sales had jumped 20%. With numbers like that, and with no end in sight for the probiotic craze, Yakult's decision to go all-out in pursuit of U.S. market share was predictable.
In fact, Food Dive predicted such an expansion and welcomed it, suggesting that Americans might develop a soft spot for the brand.