Yakult Danone to expand footprint

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 20

In order to cater to the growing demand from domestic market, Probiotic drink maker Yakult Danone India (P) Ltd plans to increase manufacturing capacity at Sonepat facility from 2 lakh bottles of 65 ml per day to 3 lakh bottles per day by December this year. Also, with increased capacity, the company has plans to expand its footprint beyond the leading metro markets and is targeting to strengthen its presence in tier-II and tier-III cities across the country.

“To meet the growing demand from Indian consumers and also to strengthen our presence in new and existing cities in a phased manner, we need to expand our capacity. So, we are infusing fresh capital to expand our only facility at Sonepat,” said Minoru Shimada, Managing Director, Yakult Danone India Pvt. Ltd.

However, he did not share the amount which the company would invest to increase the capacity.

On being asked about the Indian market, he said, “Currently, more than 3.5 crore bottles of Yakult are being consumed every day in 38 countries and regions. However, India is a challenging market for us because of limited awareness about the benefits of probiotics. Our focus has therefore been on education and we are pleased to see that more and more Indian consumers are making Yakult a part of their daily diet for its health benefits.”

“Since the brand needs expansion, we are going for phase to phase expansion,” Shimada said.

The company, a 50:50 JV between Japan-based Yakult Honsha and Groupe Danone of France, has recently roped in Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty as its brand ambassador as it plans to promote health benefits about the product and to increase awareness.

In India, the company operates through retail route and home delivery system. The company intends to increase retail presence in the coming years.